CA-DEATH-INDEX-L Archives

From: "Colleen" <>
Subject: No room at the grave -- Land running out at Galt Cemetery
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 22:16:28 -0700

No room at the grave -- Land running out at Galt Cemetery
By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Last updated: Tuesday, Apr 05, 2005 - 11:52:21 pm PDT
Marilyn Blansett has thought long and hard about all the potential new
residents that would inhabit Galt if the city approves more than 5,000 new
homes that developers would like to build.

Her reaction -- how will she bury them all?
Marilyn Blansett stands near some large headstones at the Galt Cemetery.
Blansett, the cemetery district manager, will present a proposal to build a
new cemetery and expand the existing cemetery. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)
It won't be a problem for 10 years, Blansett says, but the Galt-Arno
Cemetery District manager has been thinking about what to do after space
dries up.

Borrowing an idea from a cemetery district that serves the Lincoln area in
Placer County, Blansett wants to establish a developer fee to finance the
cost to buy land for a new cemetery. Better yet, she said, would be a land
donation.

The Galt-Arno Cemetery District serves a lot more than just Galt. Its
boundaries are the same as the Galt Joint Union High School District which
covers about half of Acampo, plus Thornton, Herald and the southern part of
Wilton.

So Blansett will need the Galt City Council's cooperation to assess a fee
within the city limits and the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors for
areas outside the city.

Before Blansett approaches the city or county, a consultant will discuss
what it takes to seek a developer fee with the cemetery district's board of
directors on April 22.

The Galt-Arno Cemetery District has two cemeteries -- Galt Cemetery on Joy
Drive off Kost Road, in Galt's southwest corner, and Hicksville Cemetery in
a rural area on Arno Road east of Highway 99.

Galt Cemetery has room for about 300 graves in the developed side of the
cemetery and another 400 sites on an acre at the north end of the property
that has yet to be developed. Hicksville Cemetery has room for about 300
graves as well.

The two cemeteries combined average 100 burials per year, Blansett said.

"Ten years is nothing in this field," said Sandra Calise, administrator for
Placer County Cemetery District, which serves the Lincoln area. "Cemetery
planning is long-term planning."

The Galt-Arno Cemetery District receives about $176,000 of property tax
revenue annually and about $77,000 in plot sales and burial fees. That isn't
enough to buy any land, she said.

The Placer County Cemetery District No. 1, which oversees cemeteries in the
city of Lincoln, charges $206.90 for every new house, $150.17 per
multi-family unit and $135.57 for age-restricted units like the Del Webb
senior housing complex in Lincoln. Del Webb also hopes to build a similar
complex in Galt.

Cities and counties traditionally impose developer fees for streets, water,
sewer and sometimes police and fire service, but not for cemeteries.

"We've long been the red-headed stepchild," Blansett said.

Lincoln has the the only cemetery district in the state that assesses a
developer fee, according to Calise. But now several public cemetery
districts are asking Calise what her district does.

"Nobody likes to think about death," she said. "It's kind of a hard subject
to get people talking about."

Galt-Arno is one of four cemetery districts in Sacramento County. The others
are Elk Grove, Fair Oaks and Sylvan, which is in the Citrus Heights area.
Many residents, including Lodians, don't live in a public cemetery district
so customers are served by private companies.

Residents who live in the Galt-Arno district pay $1,823.25 for a burial.
Those who live outside the district -- even those who once lived in the Galt
area -- the state requires an additional $250 non-resident fee unless the
plot was purchased while living in the district or immediate family members
are already buried there, Blansett said.

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• No room at the grave -- Land running out at Galt Cemetery by "Colleen" <>