The fees for cemetery maintenance have increased significantly in Letzlingen due to the renovation of the cemetery wall.
Letzlingen l The increase in cemetery maintenance fees in Letzlingen, which they were made aware of by a current notification, causes incomprehension and sometimes even resentment among some relatives. However, the decision was made a long time ago. It was also published in the Official Journal.
An example: for a double urn grave, fees of 30 euros were charged for two years up to 2019. Since a change that the parish council of the parish of Letzlingen-Roxförde decided on August 21, 2019, 108 euros are now due for the same period and for the same grave site. The changes were reported to the Salzwedel district church office as the responsible supervisory authority. The supervisory authority granted the church supervisory approval on September 6, 2019.
Everyone pays the same
Paragraph 10 of the new version of the cemetery fee statute states: “For ongoing care and maintenance as well as the maintenance of order and security in the cemetery, a cemetery maintenance fee of EUR 27.00 per grave and year is levied.” Accordingly, there are no more differences made between the different types of grave sites. Everyone pays the same. This increases the amounts, sometimes drastically.
Ines Kurzweg from the district church office in Salzwedel explains when asked: “The effort, for example when checking tombstones, is practically the same, so the fees are the same.” However, these have increased overall, not just for the urns but for all graves . Kurzweg understands that this is not met with much enthusiasm: “I understand the dissatisfaction. However, a calculation is made for each individual cemetery. For this purpose, the actual costs are determined, which simply have to be covered, for example for insurance, occupational safety, water and electricity as well as lawn care. Church-sponsored cemeteries have to be self-sustaining, which is different from those under municipal sponsorship.
Letzlingen’s pastor Gerd Hinke explains why the cost increase was so clear this time: “The cemetery wall in Letzlingen had to be renewed on a large scale. We had submitted several applications for funding, but all of them were rejected – therefore the increase in the cemetery maintenance fees was necessary. But everyone can see that the wall turned out well. “
Self-commitment decreases
In general, the fees in larger cemeteries are usually higher, especially when more staff have to be employed for care. In very small villages, the care is still organized independently, so that the costs can be lower. “But that is becoming increasingly rare,” says Ines Kurzweg. For example, in Berge (church sponsorship) the relatives pay 18 euros per grave per year.
But a larger cemetery does not always mean a more expensive cemetery. Communally operated such as the Gardelegener (fees are staggered, amount for a double urn grave: 31.48 euros per year) benefit from the fact that these can be maintained by the municipalities like parks, i.e. receive a certain amount of funding.
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