Might this be a trend in small community cemetery financing?

May 14, 2026/Business, Cemetery, Regulations/

Nobody really likes taxes. . . .But, then again, nobody wants their loved ones forgotten either.

If you are in the Death Care business you know of the costs to operate cemeteries. And, since cremation has been growing resulting in a loss of full-body cemetery lots being sold, many small cemeteries without the capital to invest in columbariums and other potential revenue raising ideas for the memorialization of cremated remains, have come on hard times financially.

This news video and print article from KMVT News in southern Idaho will tell you of the historic Rock Creek Cemetery and the community where voters will go to the polls next Tuesday, May 19, to vote on a referendum that would create the Rock Creek Magic Valley Veterans Memorial Cemetery Maintenance District for upkeep of the cemetery.

It’s an interesting proposal to fund what has been an association and volunteer led cemetery operation. According to the cemetery website, which you can access here, the cemetery is located about one mile east of the old town of the Rock Creek Station, a 19th-century trading post and stage stop along the Oregon Trail. Today’s geography would locate the cemetery about five miles south of the Idaho town of Hansen.

The initial referendum will ask for a begining assessment of $16.17 per 100,000 of property value for those in the district. So, a $300,000 home would pay about $48.51 per year for the upkeep of this community cemetery. The total amount raised, at that assessment rate, would be $79,790 annually which then would be the cemetery’s maximum budget number.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: I live in small town America. Because of that, I can tell you that caring for the graves of our ancestors who have gone before us is not taken lightly.

However, many of the more rural cemeteries, some of which were located in church yards, now lack any funding for such simple things as lawn mowing. And, of course, inflation has caused those expenses to continue to rise.

Because of rural demographics changing, combined with the popularity of cremation, there is also a dearth of traditional casketed burials at these cemeteries leaving a drought in the amount of revenue brought in. As America becomes more and more urban in population density these cemeteries will continue to be less used and eventually become neglected. . . . for a lack of funding.

Some, however, like the Rock Creek Magic Valley Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery, may be worth keeping. I think they are approaching the situation the correct way in this Idaho case — letting the population of the community make the decision and bear the costs – if they so choose.

Related — Here is the Wikipedia page for the town of Hansen, Idaho. According to the 2020 census the population was 1,086 people.

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