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Many towns across Southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle are considering raising or have recently raised cemetery fees.
The Ulysses Cemetery in Grant County is not, and is considered one of the cheapest places to be buried in the area.
The Ulysses Cemetery sits in a serene setting just off Highway 160 east of town and is operated by a cemetery board funded by the county. Standard 5-foot by 10-foot adult cemetery spaces start at $100 and Babyland and Cremation spaces are $50. Memorial plots (5x5) are $100 with interment fees during the week (open or closed casket) $175 single stack or $500 double-stack. Saturday interment fees are $500 single or $1,000 double stack.
Veterans buried in the Memorial section are free.
According to the Grant County Website, “Purchasing a space reserves the right for a person to be buried in that space, but ownership of the land remains with the cemetery district. A space may be used for two levels of burials, however the intent to do so must be known with the first burial in the space.”
Compared to surrounding areas, it’s a pretty good deal.
District 1 County Commissioner Darrin Figgins said fees for the Ulysses Cemetery are determined by the Cemetery Board, which is a different entity than the other county departments. Figgins was on the cemetery board for a number of years before being appointed county commissioner in October.
“The cemetery isn’t controlled by the commissioners, but there is a statute that the county has to fund them with tax dollars,” Figgins said.
The cemetery board meets several times a year and the subject of fees comes up at least once a year.
“We’d look at that probably at least once a year,” Figgins said. “On the years I was on there, it was the consensus of the board that we’re funded by county tax dollars and we need to charge enough to cover our expenses, but we’re not trying to make money to operate the cemetery. It felt like to the board that was double taxation, almost.”
Figgins said 99 percent of the people who are buried out there (were former) taxpayers, “So it didn’t make sense to have some real expensive openings and closings because it wasn’t going to be enough to fund the cemetery, anyway, but it made sense to help cover some of those costs,” he added.
He said you don’t have to be a Great County resident or have ties to the county in order to be buried there.
The Stanton County Cemetery in Johnson is similar to Ulysses with single burial sites selling for $100; but move farther away from Grant County and the prices rise drastically. Adult grave spaces in Garden City’s city-run cemetery cost $450, with spaces for children and cremations starting at $250. Above-ground mausoleums in Garden City are $4,050. Adult grave spaces in Liberal’s city-operated cemetery are $400 and infant spaces $150. Above ground crypts in Liberal are $895.
Burial services in Both Garden and Liberal start at $450 but are more expensive depending on day of the week and time of day.
The City of Guymon in the Oklahoma Panhandle voted December 10 to raise its cemetery fees. That city was considering raising its standard single plot fee from $200 to $450 to come more in line with cities like Liberal and Garden City, and limited the times burial services can be performed. The vote was for an increase in all fees across all departments and met with resistance from the public.
A Catholic Cemetery in Elkhart is among the highest with a single plot going for $950 and infant plots going for $250.
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