Funeral fees may soon change

WASHINGTON — City officials are mulling a handful of proposed adjustments to charges for funeral services, as cemetery staff struggle to balance overtime pay and hours with the needs of grieving families.

A memo from Cemetery Sexton Zach Wibstad to Washington City Council members this week pitched a plan to limit the times for funeral services on Saturdays.

“We’re usually there two-and-half hours early, before the service, so we’re set up and ready,” he said. “And by the time the procession leaves, we get to tear down and backfill for sometimes two hours … it’s hard to find help when you can’t say, ‘Hey, you’ll be out of here by a certain time.’”

The cemetery currently charges groups $200 for Saturday funerals before noon and $400 for those after noon. Wibstad’s suggestion would set a $300 flat fee, but add a fee of $150 an hour for each hour the procession stays on site after 1 p.m.

That’s on top of the $750 fee for full interments, or $400 for cremated remains at Elm Grove Cemetery, according to area funeral homes.

Council Member Elaine Moore said she was worried about setting unnecessarily strict rules for processions.

“It’s touchy, the cemetery is the last place that you say goodbye,” she said. “And it’s hard. It’s hard to say, ‘You’ve got to hurry up, you’ve got to get out of there.’”

Wibstad plans to float the idea with community funeral directors before the next city council meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Millie Youngquist said she hoped the professionals would provide valuable insight.

Beatty & Peterseim Funeral Director Mark Beatty said Saturday interments were becoming more and more common.

“Society has changed more over the years, and they’re trying to make funerals more convenient,” he said. “People can’t get off work, that’s another issue that I see, that employers do not give their employees enough time off for bereavement … and cremation has changed that too, where you can schedule cremation a month from now and do that on a Saturday.”

The proposed changes also included a bump in the cemetery’s tent fee from $100 to $200, to account for extra hands needed to set it up. That change passed in a stand-alone motion with a unanimous vote Tuesday night, as the other reforms await future discussion.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com