Cemeteries division manager Stacy Smith details capacity shortfalls, digitization plan and mausoleum expansion

Stacy Smith, division manager for Fort Lauderdale’s Cemeteries Division, told the Parks and Recreation Board on Thursday that the city manages four municipal cemeteries and is confronting limited burial availability at multiple sites while working to modernize records.

Smith said the cemeteries the city operates are Evergreen (about 11 acres in District 4), Sunset Memorial Gardens (about 30 acres in District 3), North Woodlawn (roughly five acres; closed to burials and lacking records) and Lauderdale Memorial Park (about 56 acres), which serves as the city’s primary burial site. She said Evergreen has roughly 350–400 spaces remaining (an estimate) and may reach capacity in five to seven years; Lauderdale Memorial Park has an estimated 8,500 burial spaces and roughly 10–15 years before full vacancy, though the division is exploring expansion opportunities.

Smith said the cemetery system previously was managed by a private operator for about 25 years but returned to city management on Oct. 1, 2018. The cemeteries division employs about 40 full-time staff across family services, operations, maintenance and finance and operates from an $8.55 million enterprise fund; Smith said those revenues cover salaries and system operations rather than drawing from the city’s general fund.

A significant operational challenge, she said, is that most records remain paper-based. "We are completely manual," Smith said, adding that staff are digitizing files and are negotiating with PlotBox for a cemetery software system; she estimated the software implementation could take 10–12 months. Smith said owner files for Evergreen and Lauderdale Memorial Park have been digitized, but interment and ownership cards remain to be processed.

To address capacity, the division is planning a mausoleum expansion: Smith said the department expects to build three mausoleum buildings that will provide roughly 476 crypt spaces and hopes the new units will be available by the end of the year so the city can resume pre-sales. She also described the cemetery governance structure: a Cemetery Board of Trustees that provides oversight and manages a perpetual care trust fund, which Smith said has a principal of about $40 million and from which only interest and dividends are used for reimbursements and maintenance.

Board members and attendees shared local context: one member described Evergreen as community open space used for walking, biking and family activities; another thanked staff for taking over care of North Woodlawn after it was abandoned and said historical disruptions from highway construction had damaged grave markers. Smith cautioned that buying new land for burials depends on administrative appetite and has been discussed previously without action.

Smith closed by directing residents to the Lauderdale Memorial Park office for plot purchases and to the city’s parks and recreation webpage for additional information. With no quorum present the board did not vote on any cemetery policies or price changes; no formal action was taken during the presentation.