Most Cemetery Rates Set To Increase In 2024

Over the last 18 months the higher cost of living has been a hot button topic.

But at the last regular meeting of Moose Jaw City Council the talk briefly turned to the higher cost of dying or rather using City burial services and the need to fund perpetual care of the two municipal cemeteries.

And if you haven’t guessed it by now many of the services provided by the City at the municipality owned cemeteries are going up.

Council was presented with proposals which would see a number of services at municipal cemeteries increase.

In introducing the changes Councillor Kim Robinson, who sits on the Parks and Recreation Committee, said the increases in cemetery rates were “nominal.”

The rates proposed on a percentage basis were:

  • Regular Burial Rates - 4% increase

  • Casket Vault Handling Fee - 10% increase

  • Cremation Burial Rates - 3% to 4% increase

  • Supplementary Burial Fee - No Increase

  • Columbarium Rates - No increase

  • After Hour Rates and Charges - 3% to 7% increase

  • Scattering Fee - 3% increase

  • Miscellaneous Rates - 5% increase

Parks and recreation director Derek Blais said the review was part of Administration’s annual review of rates and fees.

Blais said the rates were formulated to achieve as close as possible cost recovery for the City’s two cemeteries.

“With these proposals we’ll be looking at approximately a 95 percent cost recovery (rate),” Blais told Council.

Burial services at municipally owned cemeteries 2019 - 2023 - source City of Moose Jaw report

Presently Administration is projecting a $20,000 surplus in cemetery operations in 2024.

The cost of an adult traditional grave license is going up four percent from $1,840 in 2023 to $1,905 in 2024.

Cost of using the scattering garden for ashes is going up three percent in 2024 raising the rate from $250 in 2023 to $258 in 2023.

He said rates were going up due to need to prepare for perpetual care of the two cemeteries.

“…some of our interest earnings on our perpetual care reserve has the biggest impact on our revenues,” he said.

In statistics provided in the report the number of burials at City cemeteries is seeing a strong trend to cremations versus traditional burials.

In the area of columbarium rates there will be no increase due to a comparison of the rates charged at other cemeteries and communities, Blais told Council.

Councillor Heather Eby said it was important for people to remember the cemetery fees charged are linked to the perpetual care of the cemetery.

“…cemeteries need to be looked after forever and at some point there will be no more revenue coming in to a cemetery when the land is full,” Councillor Eby said.

She said it was the City’s responsibility to maintain municipally owned cemeteries forever.

“It needs to be beautiful not just now but 50 years from now. That is part of what we look at when we’re looking at rates,” she said.

Council then approved the rate increase effective January 1, 2024.

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