Cemeteries face budget crunch in Sudbury and region

Morning North8:01Municipal cemeteries under financial strain

Death and taxes... the only sure things in life. The taxes sides of it is under a little strain these days when it comes to municipal cemeteries. The CBC's Erik White joined us in studio to talk about how revenue to maintain municipal cemeteries is down.

A tour of Civic Memorial Cemetery with Citizen Services Director Ron Henderson leads indoors to the mausoleum and not just because it's a cold winter day.

"I have no grass to cut in here either," he said.

The mausoleum is the city's main source of cemetery revenue and helps cover the costs of cutting the grass at the 25 graveyards spread across Greater Sudbury, with a budget of about $1.4 million.

It is one of the only cemetery systems in the province that isn't propped up with taxdollars, but with dropping revenue, Henderson's not sure how long that will last.

The main reason for that is the trend towards cremation. The plots or mausoleum niches for cremated remains are much cheaper than a crypt or grave for a casket and that means less money coming into run the cemeteries.

Henderson said it can be a difficult balance.

"It's a service, but it's almost like running a business. That's almost the way you have to approach it."

In Timmins, the three municipal cemeteries are operated with a $700,000 budget. About $270,000 of that comes from burial fees and plot sales, the rest is covered by taxdollars.

Timmins cemetery manager Lynne Grenon said revenue drops about $15,000 every year and the city is considering bringing in automatic annual hikes to cemetery fees.

"It's always a touchy subject, people are greiving and the last thing they want to deal with is more expenses at that time," Grenon said.

It's the same story for across the province and the few run by churches and other groups can just hand them over to municipalities, who are required by law to take them over.

Darren Denomme is the operations manager of the North Bay Roman Catholic Cemeteries, which is still under the umbrella of the Catholic diocese. He said the two cemeteries he oversees are doing alright revenue-wise.

Denomme, who is also the president of the Ontario Cemetery and Funeral Professional Association, said that cities and towns needs to see cemeteries not as a failing business that doesn't bring in as much money as it used to, but more of a public service, like a park or playground.

"The municipalities have to view them as important and put budgetary concerns aside at some point," he said.

Denomme said some cemetery managers are experimenting with new ways of making money, including renting cemeteries out for concerts and weddings.