Plans to increase fees at Coquitlam's Robinson Memorial Park were put on hold last week pending a more comprehensive review of cemetery services and charges.
Last week, the city's recreation committee deferred bylaw amendments that would have seen cemetery fees more in line with Metro Vancouver municipalities, staff said.
The cemetery, located beside Vancouver Golf Club, has been operating at a loss - about $20,000 a year, financial services manager Sheena MacLeod told the committee - and its fees haven't kept up with inflation.
The cemetery bylaw was adopted three years ago and doesn't allow for a plot holder to transfer his or her land to a family member; it also limits the number of cremated remains to be interred in a single lot (the proposed change would permit up to eight, double what's now allowed). Those two items - along with a fee increase - were recommended for the updated bylaw but council wanted more information about cemetery operations, especially about the budget and plot sales.
Currently, plots can't be sold and if owners want to dispense with them, the only buyer would be the city, which purchases it for 25% less and levies a $99 surcharge, said Lanny England, Coquitlam's urban forestry and park services manager.
Councillors also questioned why the cost for weekend burials are twice the price on weekdays. Lori MacKay, Coquitlam's general manager of leisure and parks, said the city is negotiating with its civic employees' union to provide more flexibility with Saturday and Sunday overtime in the collective agreement.
Coun. Selina Robinson also wondered whether the city should be operating a cemetery while Coun. Mae Reid voiced concern about the rates for former residents, whose relatives are charged significantly more for burials.
Under the proposed bylaw change, a burial for city resident would rise from $3,183 to $3,312 (plus a one-time fee for perpetual maintenance at $828) and from $4,808 to $5,003 (plus $1,252 for maintenance) for a former resident.
Last month, Port Coquitlam updated its cemetery bylaw and changed its burial rates to $5,447 for residents, $7,332 for former residents and $9,509 for non-residents. The city had not increased its cemetery fees since 2007, said Barry Becker, PoCo's manager of parks and recreation.
