Wright City leaders will host a video conference discussion June 1 to review fee increases at the Wright City cemetery.

Changes to the cemetery’s fee structure are intended to address a shortfall in funding for cemetery maintenance and services, city officials said.

“We did not fully realize the enormous cost of maintenance, since until the last few years the Wright City Memorial Society carried the burden of maintaining the cemetery,” said Mayor Dan Rowden. “The primary funding for the cemetery comes from the sale of burial sites, endowment fund interest, and opening and closing of grave site fees. Our burial site fees were low compared to surrounding cemeteries and needed to be raised to improve the daily maintenance funding.”

Rowden said the city takes tremendous pride in the appearance of the cemetery, and is grateful for the contributions and feedback from the Memorial Society and members of the community.

Major changes to cemetery fees include increasing the cost of a grave site from $100 per grave to $400.

City officials are also proposing to raise the cost of opening and closing grave sites from $25 to $200.

These changes would be offset somewhat by a decrease in fees to the cemetery endowment fund, which goes toward perpetual maintenance at the cemetery. That fee will go from $200 per grave to $25.

City Administrator Jim Schuchmann said the city needs more up-front fees to help cover the gap between maintenance costs and revenue for the cemetery. That’s why the proposed changes would shift fees away from the endowment fund and toward those up-front costs.

In years past, the endowment fund, which is essentially an investment account, provided about $9,000 per year for cemetery maintenance, and will produce less than that over the next 18 months, Schuchmann said.

“We don’t have enough money (coming in) to continue to operate and maintain the cemetery,” Schuchmann told the Wright City Board of Aldermen May 14.

One of the largest costs for the cemetery is simply keeping it mowed and maintained. Wright City contracts a lawn care company to provide that service.

The new fee structure continues a policy of charging non-residents more for grave sites and services. Just as in the current cemetery ordinance, anyone who lives outside Warren County would be asked to pay double for each of the costs.

Residents who live within Warren County, but outside Wright City, would be charged only 150 percent of the base fees if the new fee structure is approved. Currently those area residents are charged double for grave sites and services.

The Wright City Cemetery Memorial Society, which raises funds to help care for the cemetery, has previously expressed concerns about the overall fee increases. Memorial society members voiced those concerns to Wright City aldermen earlier this year, along with questions about the specific language in the new changes.

Aldermen had planned an in-person workshop to review those concerns, but that plan was scuttled by the advent of the coronavirus.

Video conference is now the best option to provide transparency for the discussion and include as many voices as possible, officials said.

Comments regarding the fee changes can be made ahead of the June 1 conference by emailing cityclerk@wrightcity.org, calling 636-745-3101 or dropping off a letter at Wright City Hall located at 636 Westwoods Road.

Details about viewing the online video conference, as well as the full description of proposed changes, can be found on Wright City’s Facebook page, Facebook.com/WrightCityMo.