sponsored by
06/16/2008
enlarge
Staff photo by David LeamingStaff Writer
The cost to be buried in Skowhegan just went up.
Perpetual care in Skowhegan's eight cemeteries has increased by at least $25 per lot and will have to be paid up front beginning July 1, according to Town Clerk Rhonda Stark.
Stark said the amended cemetery ordinance requires payment prior to burial, and she hopes people come into the town office as soon as they learn of the new costs.
"It would be much easier to come in now, not wait until they lose someone. That is the hardest time," Stark said.
Perpetual care -- care that continues indefinitely without interruption -- is important to the appearance of the cemeteries and the cost should be shared by everyone, not just a few, Stark said.
With standard regulations now in place, Stark said that can now happen.
Stark said most lots in the newer, East Skowhegan Cemetery on Oak Pond Road already have perpetual care, care. Payments are kept in interest bearing accounts to care for the lots forever. The bylaws require payment when a lot is purchased.
"The rest of the town cemeteries are playing catch up," she said. "All the other cemeteries we own don't have perpetual care. Sexton Mark Bossey does the mowing and trimming and the owners are supposed to mail him a check."
But, in many cases, those checks never come.
"It's next to impossible to find ancestors of the older lots," Stark said. "It's not fair to people who have not paid for perpetual care to get the same treatment as the lot next to them whose families have paid."
Skowhegan's new price list for minimal perpetual-care deposits, starts at $125 for one grave, plus $20 for land costs. Two graves are $250, plus $40 for land; three graves or a half lot is $375 plus $60; four graves is $500 plus $80; five graves is $625 plus $100 and six graves or one lot is $750 plus $120.
Those costs are the about the same or less than many surrounding towns.
In Augusta, which has 17 cemeteries, a single grave is $400, $200 for the grave and $200 for mandatory perpetual care. For non-residents it is $500. A niche in the columbarium, a granite structure that holds ashes, a single niche is $800 and a double niche for two is $1,500.
In Waterville, in both St. Francis Catholic Cemetery and Pine Grove Cemetery, both on Grove Street, a single grave is $600 per grave and includes perpetual care.
At St. Francis, a cremation garden with space for urns, is $350. At Pine Grove, cremation space is $375. Opening and closing burial sites costs in both cemeteries run from $600 to $650 during the week for adults and more on the weekends.
In Farmington, the cost is $300 for one grave, $500 for two, $750 for four, $1,200 for six, $1,600 for eight and $2,400 for 12. The deed is $50 and it costs $20 to have it recorded.
In Madison, at the town-run Forest Hills Cemetery, all fees include perpetual care: $300 for two graves, $600 for four graves and $900 for six graves.
In some other towns, caretakers mow only what is paid for, but Skowhegan has always chosen to mow each entire cemetery, Stark said. Not only does it mean more work to mow around non-paid lots, but the overall image is unattractive, she said.
"We know that's not fair, but imagine what a cemetery would look like" if it was only mowed in patches, she said.
Darla L. Pickett -- 474-9534, Ext. 341
dpickett@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
Click here to view or add reader comments