The cost of dying could go up in parts of Central Otago.
At its meeting next week, the Central Otago District Council will consider a change to the way it charges for burials in the largest of the council-managed cemeteries, in Alexandra, Cromwell and Clyde.
Council parks and recreation manager Mathew Begg said there could be an rise in the charge as the true cost of burials was realised.
However, with the current system, the council and community boards were ''providing a subsidy to the families of people being buried''.
On many burials, the fee charged did not cover costs. Mr Begg said the council had two forms of revenue from burials - charging people to buy or reserve a plot and charging for burial costs.
The latter applied only at Cromwell, Clyde and Alexandra, as in the other council- managed cemeteries - Ranfurly, Naseby and Omakau, the burial contractor charged the funeral director. Other Central Otago cemeteries, managed by trusts, also charged the funeral director for burial costs.
Mr Begg has recommended the council no longer act as the ''middleman'' and true burial costs be charged directly by the funeral director.
''With this proposal, the family pays the true costs, costs are no longer subsidised by the ratepayer and the costs are charged directly from the funeral director to the family,'' he said, in a report to be considered at Wednesday's full council meeting.
''This will take council out of being the middleman ... reducing time and cost to the organisation.''
Burials in council-run cemeteries should continue to be carried out by the council parks contractor so the council could ensure a good service, he said.
The cost varied from $50 for some ashes burials through to $3000 where a grave was required in winter and the sides had to be shored to prevent collapses. The average cost of a full burial was about $1000 and the average cost of an ashes burial was about $70.
The current cost of a standard burial in Alexandra was $855, $660 in Clyde and $770 in Cromwell.
If the council agreed to the change, it would be included in the long-term plan next year and open for public submission.
It would take effect from July 1, 2015. In the past four years at Clyde and past two years at Alexandra and Cromwell, the expenditure by the council on burials had exceeded income so the losses had to be met by the respective board's general reserves accounts.
The loss over four years at Clyde totalled $12,006, the loss at Alexandra over two years was $8455 and the loss at Cromwell was $2541.
Alexandra and Cromwell cemeteries both recorded ''profits'' in the 2010-11 year and 2011-12 year, to the tune of $4510 at Alexandra and $5819 at Cromwell. One option was to leave the system as it was, but it was a better idea to have a single consistent method, he said.
