Raymond Voter Information Project

Article 22

Ratify Cemetery Plot Costs

Click HERE for direct link to the text of Town Warrant Article (revised at Town Deliberative Session Feb. 6, 2010).

This article would ratify previous Board of Selectmen actions to raise the cost of burial plots from $175 to $325 for a single lot, with 25 percent of the fee reserved for maintenance and upkeep, 50 percent put into an expendable trust for cemetery expansion, and 25 percent held in trust with only the interest used for perpetual care of the individual lot.

The Board of Selectmen thought it had the ability to establish cemetery lot rates; that authority, however, currently rests with voters at Town Meeting.

A YES VOTE would approve the Board of Selectmen’s action to increase the rates and change the allocation.

A NO VOTE would return the cost to $175, with $125 going to the expendable trust and $50 going to perpetual care of the individual lot.

Pro:

• Legally raises cemetery lot fees and allocation changes.

Con:

• Voters have not given the Board of Selectmen authority to change cemetery rates.

• Burial plot price would increase by 86% over rates voted for in 1985 and by 30% over rates currently in use. (1)

References:
1. Chris Rose, Town Manager: The last legal vote, at Town Meeting in 1985 (Article 10) set the $175 rate with the $125/$50 allocation.

Please send questions/comments to editor@raymondvip.org

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