Tarpon cemetery rate won't soar for now

The city also delays decisions on a 1.2-acre expansion and who can be buried there.

By KATHERINE GAZELLA
© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 6, 2001

TARPON SPRINGS -- Just a week after they discussed raising burial rates at Cycadia Cemetery from $450 to $1,200, city commissioners now say that rate might be too high.

"We're really taking a huge jump here," Commissioner Karen Brayboy said at a meeting Tuesday night.

As a result, commissioners postponed a vote on the increase. They also postponed decisions on whether to expand the city-run cemetery and whether to allow only Tarpon Springs residents and their immediate families to be buried there. Only about 200 burial plots are unsold at the century-old cemetery.

If the commissioners want to add 1.2 acres on the north side of the cemetery soon, they'll have to act quickly. They must decide by a Jan. 15 meeting whether to put the issue on a voter referendum in March.

"The only thing I don't want to do is just delay, delay, delay until we can't get anything done at all," Mayor Frank DiDonato said.

Commissioners plan to discuss the issue again at their next meeting, at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 18.

Brayboy said her decision to wait was affected by comments from funeral home operators Dan Vinson and Thomas Dobies, who said $1,200 may be too high.

"I think it's already sometimes a struggle for poor people," said Vinson, owner of Vinson Funeral Home.

City Manager Ellen Posivach reminded commissioners that they have to do something to pay for the care of the cemetery other than relying too heavily on the city's general fund. Otherwise, she said, taxes probably would have to be raised to pay for the cemetery.

Staffers prepared estimates this week that show how much the cemetery will cost the city under several scenarios. The cost of running the cemetery is $162,000 a year. Depending on whether the city bought the 1.2 acres, the price of the plots, and whether officials set up a perpetual-care fund that will provide for operating expenses after all the plots are sold, the city could have to contribute from $129,220 to $422,240 a year to the cemetery.

City staffers also compared burial prices at municipal and private cemeteries. Many local municipal cemeteries are full or nearly sold out, so they focused on prices at private cemeteries, most of which charge more than $1,200 for most of their plots.

But those cemeteries offer more options than a city cemetery can, Vinson said. At $1,200, he said, "a lot of people may choose elsewhere."

- Staff writer Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or gazella@sptimes.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright