Facing deficit, Woodland leaders vote to double cemetery prices, add ossuary burials
The cost to bury a loved one at Woodland Cemetery will double this year after the Woodland City Council voted Tuesday to raise burial plot prices. City officials said the increase was intended to reduce a long-standing budget deficit at the 176-year-old cemetery and better manage its limited remaining space.
Last year, a burial plot at Woodland Cemetery sold for $1,082. After the council approved the plan under its Tuesday evening consent calendar, the price will increase to between $2,000 and $2,250. The new rate aligns Woodland’s prices with those in nearby cities such as Davis and Dixon, according to a city staff report.
The city estimates the higher fees could generate about $25,000 in additional annual revenue.
Founded in October 1869, Woodland Cemetery sits adjacent to Union Church at West and Cross streets. It was operated by a cemetery association until the city assumed control in 1967. The 23.5-acre cemetery added a mausoleum in 1926.
About 15,700 people are buried at Woodland Cemetery. Roughly 400 are interred in crypts, about 300 in niches, and approximately 15,000 in traditional burial plots.
The council received a financial update on the cemetery during a December meeting.
Cemetery maintenance is funded through the cemetery enterprise fund, which has operated at a deficit each year, according to the city’s resolution. In the most recent fiscal year, the cemetery ran a $283,960 deficit. The cemetery cost the city $489,960 to operate and generated about $206,000 in revenue and endowment fees, according to a December staff report.
The cemetery has about 2,000 burial plots remaining. In addition to traditional in-ground plots, the cemetery offers garden niches and a columbarium, as well as space for four mausoleum crypts and about 130 placements for cremated remains. Last year, 29 burial plots were sold.
City staff also evaluated other ways to reduce costs, including outsourcing landscaping services, reducing irrigation use or changing water sources, and limiting grass coverage throughout the cemetery.
The council also approved adding ossuary burials. An ossuary holds multiple sets of cremated remains underground with a shared above-ground marker. Ossuaries are commonly used in areas with limited burial space. Nearby public cemeteries that already offer ossuary services include Auburn, Roseville and Fair Oaks.
Woodland will charge about $800 per ossuary burial, compared with about $600 in Fair Oaks, $500 in Roseville and $1,100 in Auburn.
Access to affordable burial space has become a regionwide issue. Private cemeteries are often out of reach for many families, and public cemeteries are quickly filling up. City officials said it remains unclear what residents expect from local governments regarding burial services, and expanding cemetery space has not been a priority for most elected leaders.
City-owned cemeteries are less common than private cemeteries or those governed by independent cemetery districts. While a city-owned cemetery may receive limited support from city tax revenues, it primarily depends on plot sales to cover operating costs such as staffing and grounds maintenance. In 2004, Woodland considered forming a public cemetery district to broaden its tax base, but ultimately decided against the move.
