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Cemetery commission recommends 2025 executive operating budget to finance committee
Summary
The Waukesha Cemetery Commission voted to recommend the 2025 executive operating budget to the finance committee after a staff presentation showing personnel costs up about 4.3% but no change in full-time equivalents; the package moves next to the finance committee and then the council in November.
The Waukesha Cemetery Commission voted to recommend the proposed 2025 executive operating budget to the finance committee after a staff presentation at its Oct. 14 meeting.
Karen (the cemetery director) told commissioners the two-sided executive budget summary in their packets shows revenues and operating expenses alongside capital and depreciation adjustments. She said personnel costs in the proposed budget are up 4.3% — reflecting salary, health insurance, retirement and overtime assumptions — but that full-time-equivalent staffing levels remain unchanged. "All of those numbers on the personnel side are inputted by the finance department," she said.
Commissioners asked for clarification on the components of the budget. Karen listed the major 2025 capital items in the broader CIP packet: a 48-inch zero-turn mower and a gator with a plow attachment are planned for 2025; a pickup truck is tentatively scheduled for 2027; golf carts are slated for staggered replacement in 202628; and a concrete mixer is listed for 2028. Karen said city accounting separates capital outlays and depreciation from the operating total, which explains differences between the front-page and backside summary figures.
Chair (speaker 2) moved to recommend the executive operating budget; the motion was seconded by Ed Reisner and the commission approved the recommendation. Karen said the budget packet will be reviewed by the finance committee and then forwarded to the council for a full-budget meeting in November.
The commission discussed several operating-line items, including professional services and a cemetery-specific software maintenance line Karen said is maintained in the cemetery's budget. She also summarized services through September: 133 interments year-to-date and a decline in niche sales attributed to limited niche inventory; a new columbarium arriving next week should expand niche availability.
The commission did not change staffing levels in the recommendation and did not amend the operating proposal; the recommended package will advance to the finance committee for further review.
