I recently read an article in GoSanAngelo.com that you can read here that dealt with the City of San Angelo and its future plans for the Fairmount City Cemetery.

A couple of years ago a master plan was funded and that plan has indicated that the cemetery should capitalize on Fairmount’s assets and make the community aware of the personal history it could provide for each resident.  To that end, the master plan showed that there was only about 400 spaces left  and the number would be inadequate going into the future.

As a result the city worked out a deal with Angelo State University that resulted in a land swap whereby the city traded city-owned land to Angelo State in return for acreage that bordered the south fence of Fairmount Cemetery.

The plan also realized that the amount of cremation services would be rising and calls for niches  to be built to meet the growing demand in San Angelo.

Finally, the master plan also reached a conclusion that the cemetery should build a Heritage Center as a meeting place for family and friends prior  to, or after, funerals have been conducted in the cemetery.  The Heritage Center could also be used for events at the cemetery that may result around Veteran’s Day or other holidays that the cemetery would hold events for.

Funeral Director Daily take:  On one hand, in reading this article, I find a city cemetery that is doing everything it can do to make this asset work for the taxpayers in the community.  That is very noble and what cities everywhere should be doing for their taxpayers — not just in a cemetery – but in all services a municipality provides.

On the other hand, however, I see a city that may build a facility that competes directly with the businesses in that city that pay property taxes.  As more and more of our population is non-church members, will the events center facility provide a place to hold cremation memorial services and visitations rather than at existing funeral homes?  Funeral homes in the community have invested in this type of asset to bring those services to their facilities – in order to profit – and pay their property taxes to the community.

These types of issues are a delicate dance and funeral home owners have to always be looking at the services they offer, the prices they charge, and the value to a the consumer to make sure that they continue to prosper regardless of where their competition comes from.

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