Sharing this quite insightful and educational news story from
Waterville, Lucas County Ohio.
It is a story worth
reading for its details of how a city and township can collaborate
together in order to take care of five cemeteries through an arrangement
known as setting up a Union Cemetery District. Utilizing this method just might
be the most effective answer for some situations where lack of funds to properly
maintain a cemetery, or multiple area cemeteries, has become a pressing issue that
requires a resolution that works well for all involved.
BY KAREN GERHARDINGER | MIRROR REPORTER —
"In
a gathering described as monumental and impressive, leaders from
Waterville, Waterville Township and Whitehouse met on October 23 and
agreed to quickly move forward on a shared plan to manage five area
cemeteries.
The only township-owned cemetery is a
tiny, closed one on Winslow Road. For years, however, township
maintenance employees have mowed, trimmed and maintained the cemeteries
in exchange for keeping the fees from opening and closing graves at
Wakeman and Whitehouse cemeteries.
Township trustee Brett Warner and fiscal
officer Jennifer Bingham both shared how fees aren’t covering the costs
for Richard Ludwig and Andy Artiaga to spend about 55 percent of their
overall time on cemeteries. In addition, the two active cemeteries need
road repairs and other capital improvements.
So earlier this summer, Warner
approached Waterville administrator Jim Bagdonas and Whitehouse
administrator Jordan Daugherty about options. One idea quickly rose to
the top: a union cemetery similar to one formed with Perrysburg and
Perrysburg Township in 1877.
A union cemetery is a separate political
subdivision, governed by a board with members from each municipality
and abiding by real estate and consumer spending laws. A clerk would
track day-to-day expenses, and existing employees could submit their
work hours to be paid out of the union cemetery fund.
Based on anticipated expenses, the board
would set the amount of the inside millage to be collected from
property owners’ annual taxes, explained Waterville’s solicitor, Phil
Dombey. Inside millage is un-voted property tax authorized by the Ohio
Constitution and established by the General Assembly.
Using a projected $70,000 to $120,000 a
year to cover the costs of the employees’ wages and benefits, capital
improvements and equipment repairs, plus income of about $25,000 from
plot purchases and fees, Bagdonas estimates a need for $103,000. This
would require .35 mills, which would cost the owner of an average
Waterville home, currently $186,000, about $23.15 a year.
When he learned that residents wouldn’t
have an opportunity to vote on the matter, Whitehouse council member
Richard Bingham said that it’s “taxation without representation,”
especially considering the number of other taxes residents are asked to
pay.
“We (Whitehouse) have money to pay for
it, and we’re going to tax our citizens again, when they’re being asked
to approve a tax for a jail and so many other things. Where does it
end?” he said.
The majority disagreed with Bingham, calling the care of the cemeteries a community service.
“It’s the duty of the governmental body
to take care of those who have gone before us,” said Dombey, who spoke
emotionally about families visiting cemeteries to pay respect to
veterans from the Civil War through the war in Afghanistan. “Cemeteries
are where those families go to remember their loved ones.”
Whitehouse Mayor Don Atkinson agreed,
noting that his family visits a Kentucky graveyard where his father and
grandfather, both veterans, are buried.
Waterville council member Tim Pedro said
he doesn’t like to be taxed, but municipalities are expected to be
stewards of funds and use them wisely. He suggested looking for grants
to care for the graves of the many veterans in each of the cemeteries.
“We need to look at solutions and work in the spirit of forming a district,” Pedro said.
While Waterville council member Barb
Bruno said she’d like a cost analysis before making a decision, Mayor
Lori Brodie and Bagdonas agreed with Jennifer Bingham that solid numbers
aren’t available, as the maintenance workers didn’t begin recording how
much time they spent on the cemeteries and other duties until this
year, and they still don’t record how much work is done at each
cemetery. When Jennifer Bingham took over the job in December 2017, she
found that many of the records were difficult to track.
In preparation for the meeting, Brodie
spent time with Ludwig, who joined the township in 1985 and serves as
sexton. He is in charge of tracking available spaces, ownership, the
opening and closing of graves and the location of each family’s grave
markers.
Wakeman is by far the largest cemetery.
Although the first and second additions are full, the third has 200
spots remaining, and the fourth, if platted, could hold up to 400 more
4-foot by 10-foot plots, Ludwig estimated.
Whitehouse is the second
largest and remains open.
Three closed cemeteries include the
township-owned one on Winslow, the Whitehouse-owned Mennonite Cemetery
on Finzel, and Rupp Cemetery at the corner of Cemetery and Weckerly
roads.
With a positive response to the
formation of a union cemetery, each municipality nominated members to
form a subcommittee, including Rod Frey of Waterville, Bagdonas, Louann
Artiaga and Rebecca Conklin Kleiboemer of Whitehouse, and Jennifer
Bingham and Warner from the township. The group planned to meet on
October 25 and return soon to their respective councils to outline a
plan. Afterward, each municipality will seek more public input.
Whitehouse Council member Mindy Curry
said she’s already received positive feedback from residents who want to
see better care taken of the cemeteries. That can be done with more
reliable funds, she believes.
The plan calls for the union cemetery
board to hire Ludwig and Artiaga as contract workers for the time spent
on cemeteries. In the meantime, both Brodie and Whitehouse
representatives promised to lend people or equipment to help care for
the cemeteries.
The spirit of cooperation between the entities is encouraging, Warner said.
Whitehouse council president Bill May agreed.
“We should do this more often,” he said."
The above news story is from "The Mirror" newspaper.
113 W. Wayne St., Maumee, Ohio 43537
Ph: (419) 893-8135 • Fax: (419) 893-6397
November 18, 2018
Union Cemetery Districts:
Ohio Revised Code:
759.341 Union cemetery district.
The legislative authority of each municipal corporation and the board of
township trustees of each township that has united in the establishment and
management of a cemetery under section 759.27 of the Revised Code, by an
affirmative vote of a majority of each legislative authority and board, may
form a union cemetery district comprised of all of the territory within the
united municipal corporation and township for the purpose of levying taxes
within the territory of the district for the establishment, operation, and
maintenance of the cemetery. The legislative authority and board, acting
jointly, shall constitute the taxing authority of the union cemetery district.
Notwithstanding sections 759.37,
5705.19, and 5705.191 of the Revised Code, in
order to adopt a resolution to levy a tax in excess of the ten-mill limitation
within the district, a majority of the members of each legislative authority
and board of township trustees constituting the taxing authority must vote in
favor of the resolution. In all other matters, when the legislative authority
and board are acting jointly as the taxing authority of the union cemetery
district, each member of the legislative authority and board shall have one
vote as described in section 759.37
of the Revised Code.
Effective Date: 10-20-1987 .
