News
Cemetery Board Opts to Keep Saturday Burial Surcharge
The Johnson County Cemetery District Board, at their meeting this week, opted to keep in place the $400 surcharge for Saturday burials they put in place last fall.
A petition with nearly 1,400 signatures from the community wanting the fee rescinded was offered to the board, and board member Craig Wetterlund made a motion to rescind the policy and to refund the fees that have been paid so far.
After discussions by the board, and comments from the public supporting getting rid of the fee, the board voted on the issue, with board member Carolyn Fox abstaining.
The vote was a tie with John Zorbas and John Ehlers voting not to rescind, and Wetterlund and John Hansen voting to rescind, and the motion failed.
After the meeting, Dave Harness from Harness Funeral Home spoke to the board about his disappointment in their decision.
Harness said the meeting is over, but the issue doesn’t end there.
The community has spoken, and the board is supposed to vote the will of the people, but they chose not to listen.
edward capp
February 10, 2022 at 8:16 am
Death is a business. And as with any business, there are costs. And If it costs more to operate on a Saturday, then those costs need handed down. Simple. Open a competing business and work for nothing.
Kim Arzy
February 11, 2022 at 1:02 am
well this is all fine and dandy, but families are already being hit with a high price of funerals so you want to add more money on top of that some of the people don’t even have the money to pay for a funeral how are they going to have the $400 to do it on a Saturday