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Council declines to approve proposed increases to Buckley cemetery niche fees after heated questions
Summary
Council voted down Resolution 26‑06, which would have raised several cemetery fees including steep increases to niche prices; councilmembers said they lacked sufficient justification and asked for renegotiation and clearer financial reporting from the cemetery manager.
A majority of the Buckley City Council voted against Resolution 26‑06, a proposal to revise the city’s 2026 fees, rates and taxes that included substantial increases for cemetery niches. Council members expressed concern about the size of the niche-price increases, inconsistent market comparisons and incomplete financial reporting from the contracted cemetery manager.
Council opened discussion after the mayor introduced Russ Weeks, who the mayor said was present to answer questions about the cemetery pricing. Weeks said the cemetery has 96 niches originally built and only nine remain, all on the bottom row. He argued differential pricing across top, middle and bottom rows encourages choice across rows, extends options for families and helps cemeteries derive revenue from the growing number of cremation families. Weeks said many cemeteries now rely on cremation revenue to help cover operating costs and that the cost of maintenance has continued to rise.
Several council members challenged the size of the proposed niche increases. One councilmember said Buckley’s niche prices appeared higher than nearby comparables such as Edmonds and Puyallup; another said that if the city owns the cemetery land, raising niche prices to shore up a private manager’s balance sheet raised fairness concerns. Weeks said the firm that manages the cemetery had not raised rates since 2022 and that endowment‑care fees and operating costs factor into his pricing proposal.
City staff noted contractual ambiguities and reporting gaps. Under the current contract the manager is not required to remit a 15% fee to the city if annual revenue is below $50,000; staff said the city has not consistently received required financial statements and that the contract will be renegotiated. Council discussed procedural options: approve the whole package, approve all increases except the niche changes or vote the whole resolution down.
A motion to approve the resolution (as presented) was called and, after a voice vote with recorded opposition, the motion failed. The mayor said staff will return with more analysis and renegotiation outcomes before the council further considers niche fees.
The council did not adopt Resolution 26‑06 at this meeting; members requested clearer market-comparison data, updated financial reporting from the contract manager and more analysis of how endowment‑care and remittance provisions operate before taking further action.
