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Select Board adopts cemetery fee update after contractor raises rates
Summary
The Pembroke Select Board adopted revisions to Town Code Chapter 160 to align town cemetery fees with higher contractor costs; the Cemetery Commission proposed the increases after Dignified Cemetery Services raised its rates, and plot prices will remain unchanged.
The Pembroke Select Board on June 1 approved updates to Town Code Chapter 160 to raise cemetery service fees after the town’s contractor informed the Cemetery Commission it would increase its rates effective Feb. 1, 2026. The board opened a public hearing, heard no public testimony, and voted to adopt the ordinance as presented.
The Cemetery Commission told the board that contractor rate increases left the town’s current fees below contractor costs and were creating a shortfall on burials. The packet presented sample rate changes and showed plot sales remaining unchanged at $400 for a single plot and $700 for a double plot. The packet also indicated the town currently budgets roughly $6,000 annually for burials.
Select Board members asked for confirmation of specific line items in the proposed schedule and the rationale the Cemetery Commission used to set the new rates. Town staff and the commission representative said the changes tracked the contractor’s new pricing and that the ordinance draft included tracked changes for transparency.
After allowing one minute for any members of the public to arrive (none did), the board closed the hearing and approved the ordinance by voice vote. The ordinance language and effective date will be included in the town records and reflected in the town’s fee schedule going forward.
The board did not change plot-sale prices. The select board directed staff to finalize ordinance language and publish updated fee schedules and public notices.
