New Castle City Council members have approved an increase in cemetery fees, set aside additional space for veteran burials and voted to increase the pay rate for mileage for the first time in more than 20 years.
Ordinance 3762, which amends the fee schedule at South Mound Cemetery, was passed unanimously on first, second and third readings.
It sets the new fees as follows: Each gravesite without a foundation, $650; each gravesite with a foundation, $850; cost of space in “baby land,” $125; in ground burials (opening and closing), $650; in ground cremains (opening and closing), $350; burial in “baby land” (opening and closing), $150.
Saturday burials: Cremains opening and closing before noon, $400; opening and closing cremains after noon, $500; burials before noon, $950; burials after noon, $1,000.
A late fee charge of $250 will be assessed for any non-timely payment made.
No Sunday or holiday burials will be permitted.
This ordinance also was amended to set aside 1,660 gravesites for military burials in the West Lawn Addition of South Mound Cemetery. Mayor Greg York said Legion Hill, the veterans area in the original part of the cemetery, was full. It also was noted there are approximately 250 burials in South Mound annually, and only a portion of those are for veterans, so the new area should meet local needs for several years to come.
Mayor York also said a rate increase was necessary and that even with the increases, the fees at South Mound are comparable to other cities in the area.
“We have a non-reverting fund that we have to be good stewards with and make sure that we have our finances in a row for the future,” he said. “We planned for the immediate future and we planned for the distant future.”
The new rates go into effect Jan. 3, 2017.
Council members also unanimously passed Resolution 12192016-1, which deals with the rate at which city employees are reimbursed for mileage driven when they have to use their own vehicle while conducting city business.
This measure states that the employee mileage reimbursement paid by the city to employees using personal vehicles for public use will be increased from the current allowable reimbursement of 25 cents per mile for the first 1,500 miles driven and 11 cents per mile for each additional mile drive on public business while using a personal vehicle to 40 cents per mile with unlimited mileage.
This was the first mileage reimbursement rate approved by the council since 1993, according to city clerk-treasurer Christy York.
It was noted this increase represents the maximum amount an individual is allowed to receive from his or hers employer for automobile reimbursement without declaring any portion of that reimbursement as income and without requiring the employer to withhold tax as a result of the reimbursement.
Council members also passed Ordinance 3763, which establishes a policy regarding use of city-owned social media sites.
New Castle City Council will next meet at 7 p.m. Jan. 3, 2017 in council chambers on the second floor of the municipal building, 227 N. Main St.
