I want to touch on cemeteries for a couple of weeks…
Last October all of the Funeral Homes in Chatham-Kent were invited to a meeting to discuss the 2010 Cemeteries Business Plan. Part of the discussion at that meeting included the amount of overtime that was being paid out by the Municipality related to interments. Prior to 2003 there were extra interment charges for Saturday and Holiday interments, but in 2003 Council eliminated those charges. Since that time, the overtime costs related to interments rose from $7000 per year to $30,000 per year. And of course at the end of the year, there is a dependency on tax dollar support to cover those costs. Everyone at the meeting supported a return to extra interment charges that would incur overtime costs (keep in mind that there are always options). As well, we discussed other revenue generating opportunities for Cemeteries such as shrub maintenance, where lot owners can call and request trees to be trimmed or removed.
On July 19, 2010 Chatham-Kent Council approved a 2010 – 2014 Chatham-Kent Cemeteries Business Plan to include additional charges for necessitated work Monday through Friday after 4:00 p.m. and all day on Saturdays and Holidays and for trimming and/or removal of shrubs requested by lot owners. Since the extra interment charges and fees for shrub maintenance required a filing of rates with the Cemeteries Regulations Unit, these charges were not implemented until Monday September 13, 2010. The new charges with the HST included are as follows:
Extra Interment Charges:
After 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday per half hour $84.75
Saturday Adult Interments $271.20
Saturday Cremation Interment $135.60
Saturday Child Interment $120.00
Holiday Adult Interment $361.60
Holiday Cremation Interment $180.80
Holiday Child Interment $180.80
Shrub Maintenance Charges:
Trimming under 1.5 metres $8.48
Trimming over 1.5 metres $14.13
Removal under 1.5 metres $14.13
Removal over 1.5 metres $19.78
Removal over 2.0 metres $28.25