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Select Board approves updated cemetery fees after trustee presentation
Summary
The Swansea Select Board approved a revision to the Cemetery Department's fee schedule presented by sexton Lee Dunham, raising the standard full-burial fee from $350 to $500 and updating weekend and vault charges; the board asked staff to clarify how burial receipts are allocated to the cemetery trust.
Lee Dunham, who identified himself as the town's former public works director and current sexton, asked the Select Board on Wednesday to update cemetery prices that were last approved in 2014. He told the board that the town currently charges $350 for a full burial and proposed raising that fee to $500, with weekend and vault charges adjusted as shown on a proposed fee sheet.
The request was framed as a cost-recovery measure: Dunham explained the typical interment crew and equipment costs, saying the town uses a backhoe and a small crew for grave work but generally refills graves by hand to avoid washouts. He said the cemetery averages about 10 full burials and roughly 40 cremation interments a year.
Board members asked how increased revenues would be allocated. A staff response during discussion noted that 25% of lot-sale revenue is deposited into the cemetery trust; Dunham said he was not certain how burial-fee receipts are handled and asked for clarification of whether those receipts flow to the same fund or to general revenue.
After discussion, a board member moved and another seconded a motion "to approve the town of Swansea Cemetery Department 2026 fee schedule as presented by Lee Dunham." The motion was approved by voice vote.
Why it matters: The change updates fees that have been in place for more than a decade and is intended to help cover equipment and labor costs associated with burials. Board members directed staff to clarify the accounting treatment of burial fees versus lot proceeds so the Select Board and the public understand whether additional revenue will be reserved for cemetery maintenance or used for general purposes.
What happens next: Staff will record the revised fee schedule in the town's records and return with a clarification of fund allocation for burial receipts and any follow-up edits needed to the schedule.
Quotes from the meeting
"I'm before you today for the cemetery," Lee Dunham said in opening his presentation on cemetery operations and fees.
"We're trying to cover the cost of the backhoe and the crew that goes out and digs the grave," Dunham said when explaining the rationale for the proposed increases.
"Twenty-five percent of whatever the lot cost is [goes to the trust]," a board member summarized during questions about how lot proceeds are handled.
Provenance: This article draws directly from the public-comment and motion discussion beginning with the cemetery presentation through the motion to adopt the fee schedule (topicintro: SEG 131; topfinish: SEG 526).
