WEST KELOWNA

The cost of burials at West Kelowna’s city-owned cemetery could nearly double within four years.

Municipal staff say a big increase — from $910 to $1,740 — is necessary to better provide for the cemetery’s maintenance.

But even with the proposed higher fees, the cost of burials in West Kelowna would still be comparable to the current charges at municipally owned cemeteries in Kelowna and Peachland, councillors will hear today.

“The cemetery is set up to be a self-sustaining service, completely funded by user fees,” reads part of a staff report to council. “The proposed new fees are meant to be sufficient to cover the operating costs of the cemetery.”

Essentially, the living — through their taxes — have been subsidizing the operation and upgrades of the city-owned cemetery. In the past nine years, the city has put $1.4 million worth of improvements into the cemetery, with the money coming from public reserves.

Municipal staff’s recommendation is that council authorize annual cemetery fee increases of 10%, beginning this year and carrying through to 2022.

In addition to a hike in fees for traditional full-size burials, the cost of a cremation plot would increase from $608 to $781. The rate in 2022 would be similar to charges now applied in Kelowna and Peachland, West Kelowna city officials say.

Before West Kelowna was incorporated in 2008, the community’s main cemetery was operated by the now-defunct Westbank Irrigation Improvement District, which supplied the area’s water. A review of the cemetery’s operations has not been conducted since 2005.

The cemetery, at 3200 Elliott Rd., covers more than 3.2 hectares. First burials were held there in 1925.