Levy will cost $10k

"Cemeteries and Crematoria New South Wales have placed a levy on us as cemetery operators. It's not just local government, it's churches, and anyone else that wants to run a public cemetery or crematorium site at the moment," Cabonne councilors were told in this month's Environment, Innovation, and Energy Committee ordinary meeting.

The Cemeteries and Crematoria Levy, which is retrospective and payable from July 1, 2023, will cost Cabonne Council approximately $10,000 for the current financial year.

"They've brought the levy in so we are payable from July 1, last year," councillors were told.

As a result, discussions are ongoing about whether to add a fee to cover this levy in the next round of Cabonne fees and charges.

"Currently looking at our figures we are looking at about $10,500 that we haven't budgeted for," councillors were told.

Councillor Peter Batten strongly objected to the retrospective nature of the levy.

"We should be pointing in terms of (the state government's) behaviour, in terms of retrospective, that announcing that applies from July 1, 2023, should not happen," he said.

In response councillors were told the issue has been escalated to the Central NSW Joint Organisation of councils, and a submission is being prepared.

Further discussions focused on implementing the levy, particularly for pre-paid plots and interments.

"A great percentage of our burials are pre-planned and pre-paid, and the only link we have to that is through the funeral homes," councillors said.

The General Manager suggested informing funeral homes about this issue through a letter.

Councillor Batten also questioned the motives behind the levy and was told the state government is using council to collect costs incurred in regulating cemetery businesses.

"The license is a fee, but the next bit is that there is a levy that applies to all cemetery operators and active cemeteries," councillors were told.

"Though we don't like it, I don't think we have much opportunity to argue against it."

Cabonne has been classified as a category 2 operator, averaging 70 annual interments, including burials and ash interments.

This classification means the council must pay an $800 annual license fee.

"All cemetery operators now have to be licensed, and that's for active cemeteries," councillors were told.

"There has not been a levy before and they've just announced this levy before Easter.

"It has been written in legislation but it hasn't been implemented, but now they've chosen to operate it across all cemeteries in NSW."

The new licensing system aims to set clear standards in several key areas:

Licensing agreements for each Crown Land cemetery managed by the council have not yet been issued.

These licenses may add extra responsibilities for the care and management of these sites.

The licensing process began in February 2024, requiring the council to provide detailed information on each operational and closed cemetery to determine the specific terms of the licenses.

An interment services levy has also been introduced, effective from July 1, 2024.

This levy will be calculated based on the number of interments each financial year, resulting in higher costs for burials and ash interments. The levy would be:

Current fees and charges set by Cabonne Council for the 2023/2024 financial year are:

The total cost for a burial is now $1,170.80, and for ash interment, it is $849.

This represents a 13% increase for burials and a 7.5% increase for ash interments.

"We shouldn't wear the cost of people who have already been buried," councillors said.

"Generally we would pass on that cost and look at cost recovery."

As of May 2024, there have been 53 burials and 12 ash interments in Cabonne cemeteries, resulting in a total fee of $8,268 for burials and $756 for ash interments under the new levy.

"After July 1 they will be jumping into audits for those cemetery operators," councillors were told.

This new system will impact the council's budget, as neither the levy nor the licensing fee was included in the draft 2024/2025 budget.

The council will need to decide whether to allocate funds for these costs or pass them on to the families of the deceased or funeral homes for existing reservations.

"We have to do something, we have to get the money back somehow," councillors said.

CCNSW is currently holding information sessions with cemetery and crematoria operators across the state to explain the new regulations.

Further updates will be provided to the council committee as more information becomes available.

- By Cara Kemp