When the land runs out, so does much of the money for cemeteries

In September, Jacquelyn Connell asked Oakmont officials for help.

Connell, 39, of Glenshaw is the only paid employee of the Verona Cemetery in Oakmont, also known as the Oakmont Verona Cemetery, which is quickly running out of money. If nothing changes, the cemetery will be broke in three years, she said.

“We’re not even close to operating incomes covering all of these expenses,” Connell said.

She’s hoping the cemetery becomes a line item in the borough’s budget or some sort of consistent funding is established. If not, she said, the borough could end up responsible for the land.

That’s a fate that may await many of Pennsylvania’s burial grounds owned by private associations composed largely of volunteers who are aging out of being able to maintain the cemeteries.

As cemeteries inevitably run out of space for new burials, they run out of income. If the entity running the cemetery doesn’t have other sources of revenue — an association with a larger corporation or a well-endowed perpetual care fund — they go broke, leaving little or no means to maintain the burial plots.

According to the state’s Burial Grounds, Municipal Control Act of May 10, 1923, courts have the authority to designate local governments as caretakers of neglected burial sites. The local government, be it a city, borough or township, can be stuck with paying for maintenance — and the grounds must be open to the public.

“We’re compiling research based on state law so the borough is positioned for any type of scenario regarding this cemetery or any cemetery in Oakmont,” said borough Manager Scot Fodi when asked about Oakmont’s plans for the cemetery.

Lower Burrell already cares for one of the cemeteries in the city, but it did so voluntarily, said city Manager Greg Primm.

The city in 2018 purchased part of Bethel Cemetery in a move to expand parking at City Hall. The city keeps the grass maintained as part of the agreement with Bethel United Methodist Church, also in the city. The rest of the cemetery is owned by Bethel Cemetery Trust, which exists in name only, Primm said.

James Barazanski, 23, of Upper Burrell spent most of last summer on the grounds of Bethel Cemetery when he was hired as a member of the Lower Burrell Public Works Department. He rotates with other workers in the department to maintain the grounds two or three times a week.

He said he likes seeing all the dates and being able to see how far back the history of the cemetery goes.

“It’s interesting,” Barazanski said.

The cemetery dates to the late 1800s.

“The part with the majority of headstones is what we mow and maintain,” Primm said. “The other part is heavily wooded and not easily able to be mowed.”

So the wooded part remains in a semi-wild state with maintenance usually performed only when a volunteer or public service group offers to do so.

The maintenance costs Lower Burrell about $5,000 per season. If anything weather-related damages headstones or grave sites, the cost of repairs is covered by the city’s insurance, said Primm.

Rising costs, lower burial rates

Connell has been with the Oakmont Verona Cemetery since 2011 and acts as broker, officer manager and salesperson. She said the industry is changing quickly, with burials being valued much less than they used to be.

“People are looking to do this with as little expense and as little fanfare as possible,” Connell said.

According to the Cremation Association of North America, the annual rate of cremation grew significantly between 2008 and 2023. Nearly 61% of Americans who died were cremated in 2023, according to the association’s latest report.

The association predicts that by 2028, more than 65% of deaths will result in cremation.

That trend cuts to the heart of cemetery income, which is largely dependent on plot sales and burial charges.

According to Oakmont Verona Cemetery financial summaries from the past five years, the cemetery has consistently operated at a deficit. The cemetery lost close to $28,000 in 2024. Most burial spaces have been sold, but a grave digger is paid around $2,500 a month to be on call.

“Doing less and less and paying out that much is really hurting us,” Connell said.

Challenges in Mt. Pleasant

Rick Meason, one of five Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Association volunteer board members, said the cemetery is no stranger to operating at a deficit.

The Mt. Pleasant Cemetery receives $700 per lot purchased, a $125 fee from the company that pours the foundation for the headstone and about $500 to open and close the grave.

There are two gas wells on the property that provide some income, said cemetery association President Kevin Vought, but they don’t produce as much as when they were first drilled.

Revenue goes into a perpetual care fund, where it accrues interest, said Meason, 42, of Youngwood. In 2024, the cemetery brought in a little less than $24,300 but spent almost $52,800.

He said the most expensive cost for the 27-acre cemetery is landscaping.

“It costs between $20,000 and $30,000 a year,” Meason said. “It doesn’t look like costs are going to drop anytime soon.”

Vought, 53, of Mt. Pleasant is entering his second year as association president. He has been volunteering at the cemetery for about eight years by cutting and trimming grass. Vought and one other volunteer handled the grass cutting after they lost the service in 2023.

His son, Brian, and grandchildren helped him with grass cutting when possible.

“You could say it was a family affair,” Vought said.

He did this until the last six months of 2024, when the cemetery contracted for landscaping services.

Brackenridge troubles

Cindy Homburg, president of the Prospect Cemetery Association in Brackenridge for the past 11 years, worries her cemetery could be headed for financial trouble as well.

Homburg said she sells each grave space for around $700, and cremation spaces are $400. Burials are $750. She said sometimes the cemetery doesn’t get the money for a plot sale at the time of a funeral because it was prepaid by ancestors years or even decades before.

“I mean, some of these lots were sold for $25 and $50, you know back in the 1860s,” Homburg said.

The cemetery does not charge maintenance fees, meaning the only income is from burials and donations. Homburg said some plots sold at much less expensive rates decades ago still are being used by the original purchaser’s descendants, leaving the cemetery to miss out on between $400 and $700 worth of income newer plots would generate.

Homburg said the cemetery was used for about a dozen funerals in 2024.

“I make about $650 on each funeral,” Homburg said. “But I have to pay the grass cutter every week and the bills and all the utilities.”

As for expenses, Homburg pays the grave digger about $1,400, and Prospect employs one full-time employee who cuts the grass. Homburg did not disclose the employee’s salary.

“He’s getting older … so he can cut the grass, but he can’t trim,” said Homburg. “Now, I’m looking for somebody to trim, so that’s another expense that I’m going to have this year.”

As hard as she and the other volunteers work, the Brackenridge cemetery is facing the looming threat of bankruptcy.

“There’s just no money coming in other than the funerals,” said Jess Baker, chief of staff for state Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel.

Baker has become personally involved in seeking solutions for ailing cemeteries.

“She’s trying to do fundraisers,” Baker said of Holmberg. “She does ghost tours. All of this stuff gets done, but it’s just still not enough.”

Homburg said she went to Brackenridge Council for help with Prospect’s land care and didn’t get a response. Brackenridge Mayor Lindsay Fraser did not respond to a TribLive request for comment about plans for Prospect Cemetery.

And state law leaves lots of room for interpretation about who is ultimately responsible for cemeteries.

Brackenridge Solicitor Craig Alexander said it’s unlikely the borough would be deemed responsible for Prospect because it’s privately owned. He said volunteers are usually the ones who take over care of the land.

“Municipal councils, whether they’re in a borough, township or city, are stewards of taxpayers’ money,” Alexander said. “They have to use that money for what’s best for the taxpayers. It would be hard to pledge that money to a private cemetery.”

Even if the borough ends up responsible for the cemetery, it might not make a difference, he said.

“The Brackenridge borough budget is not a large budget, and it’d be very unlikely that they’d have the resources for such a large undertaking,” Alexander said.

Without an easy solution in sight, cemetery boards and local government may have to work together to manage the cost of maintenance.

Baker became involved with Prospect Cemetery about six months ago when a volunteer there called Steele’s office asking for help.

“He said: ‘There’s no money at Prospect. What can we do to help (Homburg),’” Baker recounted.

Baker looked into state grants for community cemeteries only to find there are almost none available. Most grant programs prioritize projects with a broader community impact, such as education, health care or environmental conservation, where the benefits are more readily apparent compared to maintaining a cemetery, she said.

The lack of grants leaves most cemeteries on their own.

Connell said the Oakmont Verona Cemetery was in a similar place in the 1970s and ‘80s until a community member died and left the cemetery a large endowment. She did not disclose the amount but said the money was invested and grew to the point it was able to maintain the cemetery from investment gains alone. Without making consistent sales, though, the investments can carry the cemetery only so far.

The cemetery has about three years left from investment and endowment funds until the land goes unsupervised, Connell said.

Doing the best they can

Meason said Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Association has to be frugal, staggering how often the grass is cut since they pay for each service individually.

“We have one guy who cuts our grass right now. He does the best he can. Sometimes — especially the last couple of summers — we’ve had so much rain in late spring that the grass grows faster than he can keep up with,” Meason said.

The cemetery has more than 10,000 headstones and is on a hill, making grass cutting that much more difficult. Meason said the cemetery is so large the grass that’s already been cut sometimes becomes overgrown before the whole cemetery is finished.

The struggles have been noticed by residents. Meason said the cemetery has been a target of criticism from community members. Sometimes the association is flooded with phone calls and social media posts calling the cemetery a “travesty.”

“We sympathize with the frustrations that the public has,” Meason said. “All of us feel really horrible about it. We don’t put all of this time and effort to keep this thing going to make it look bad.”

The Oakmont Verona Cemetery has also been the target of criticism on social media and in the community. Connell said she recognizes the pride community members take in the cemetery’s presentation and has been on the receiving end of many complaint calls since the lack of funds has made landscaping a luxury.

She and the cemetery’s board have tried to inform the public by mailing informational pamphlets and options to donate.

“We are trying to educate the public,” Connell said. “I’m getting the sense that the community believes that some sort of mismanagement has happened.”

Thinking outside the box

Once Baker became aware of Prospect’s situation, she began looking for ways the cemetery could be eligible for a wider range of funding. With help from the Tarentum History Museum, she applied to get the cemetery a state historic marker because Prospect is the burial place of Henry Brackenridge, the founder of Brackenridge Borough.

“If we could get a historical marker, then we could apply for grants,” Baker said.

The initial application was rejected after the Pennsylvania Historical Society deemed Brackenridge did not do enough in Pennsylvania to warrant a state marker for his grave site, Baker said. She then turned to U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio’s office in an attempt to get Prospect on the National Register of Historic Places.

“That is an option, but the National Registry wants to see the historical marker for Pennsylvania first,” Baker said.

Baker, Homburg and Steve Kubicko, secretary of the Alle-Kiski Historical Society in Tarentum, are working on rewriting the application to highlight Henry Brackenridge’s contribution to present-day communities. What was previously his land is now East Deer, Frazer, Tarentum and much of Harrison, Homburg said.

“All the founding fathers of Tarentum are buried here.”