Questions have arisen over the use of the perpetual care funds that are charged by the Town of Sudbury as part of the fees for purchasing a cemetery lot. We would like to provide more information on how those perpetual care funds are managed and used.<\/p>\n
Where do the funds to maintain the Town\u2019s cemeteries come from?<\/em><\/strong> What happens to the $412.50 once it is received by the Town?<\/em><\/strong> How is the $412.50 spent for the maintenance of the cemetery?<\/em><\/strong> Does relying on the interest earnings provide enough funding for proper maintenance of the Town\u2019s cemeteries?<\/em><\/strong> What happened in 2009 and 2010? It appears that the cemeteries are only being minimally maintained?<\/em><\/strong> Who oversees the investment of the Perpetual Care Trust?<\/em><\/strong> What is the Town doing given this lack of funding for cemetery maintenance?<\/em><\/strong> Can the funding model for Cemetery maintenance be changed?<\/em><\/strong> Is there anything families can do to improve the upkeep of the Cemeteries?<\/em><\/strong> If you have more questions on the perpetual care trust fund and how that relates to the maintenance of the cemeteries, please contact DPW Director Bill Place. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Questions have arisen over the use of the perpetual care funds that are charged by the Town of Sudbury as part of the fees for purchasing a cemetery lot. We would like to provide more information on how those perpetual care funds are managed and used. Read full article
\nFor the most part, the funding comes from the price residents pay for a grave. The price for each grave ($551 as of 2010) sold by the Town has three components: $137.50 is for the land itself, $1 is for recording the deed to that land, and the balance – $412.50 or 75% of the total charged \u2014 goes toward the perpetual care of the Town\u2019s Cemeteries. <\/p>\n
\nThe amount is paid over to the Town\u2019s Treasurer\u2019s office, which places the money in the Perpetual Care Trust Fund. The monies are then combined with all other perpetual care funds taken in by the town since 1902 to become the non-expendable principal of the trust. <\/p>\n
\nThe money is never actually spent by the Town. Instead, the interest earnings <\/u><\/em>from the investment of the Trust\u2019s principal each year provides the funding for the improvement and maintenance of the Town\u2019s cemeteries. In this way, the fund is \u201cperpetual\u201d and can last long into the future.<\/p>\n
\nNo. The Public Works Department typically requires about $60,000 annually to properly maintain the cemeteries and up until a few years ago the Trust generated about half of what is needed and the Town\u2019s general fund has covered the rest. <\/p>\n
\nWith the recession, interest rates on all kinds of investments have fallen below 1%, which then reduces the dollars available to the DPW for maintenance of the cemeteries. The DPW generally does not spend all interest earnings in one year and instead keep some in reserves to provide for down economic cycles, but this recession has been so profound and long lasting, by the beginning of FY11, the reserves had been used up so that current spending is only the level of current earnings, which is less than $10,000. <\/p>\n
\nThe Perpetual Trust fund (valued in November 2010 at $749,460) is among 17 trust funds which are managed by the Town\u2019s Treasurer, with assistance from an investment advisory committee comprised of three residents with extensive experience in the investment management field. Quarterly trust fund reports are made to the Board of Selectmen, who together with the Town\u2019s Treasurer, serve as the Trustees of all the Town\u2019s trusts. The quarterly reports are available in the Treasurer\u2019s office or the Selectmen\u2019s office. The effects of this economy are felt among the Town\u2019s trusts just as they are on other institutional trusts. <\/p>\n
\nWith all the demands on the Town\u2019s general operating funds, there are no good alternatives for the Town. The DPW Director is trying to have DPW staff as available spend whatever time they can find on performing at least minimal work at the Cemetery, but with 27 acres of cemetery land, clearly we cannot keep up with the standard of maintenance of the Cemeteries that we all would like to see. We know this is disheartening to family members, just as it is to the Town personnel who take pride in keeping the Cemeteries well tended and a place of comfort and solace to family members. <\/p>\n
\nWe are looking into modifying the funding model to add additional charges that would be immediately \u201cexpendable\u201d by the DPW and putting those funds into a revolving fund instead of a trust fund. But with only 50 lots purchased in a typical year, this would generate limited funds for current spending. <\/p>\n
\nFamilies are welcome to do personal tending of the shrubbery planted at their loved one\u2019s gravesite, but no outside major equipment or contractors may be brought into the Town\u2019s Cemeteries. We can all hope for the economy to recover so that the earnings from the Perpetual Care Trust are back to healthy levels. <\/p>\n