Dying to Get In

Cost of Cemetery Plots to Jump in LG

The price on real estate in a certain part of La Grange might soon go up 70 percent, and people are literally dying to get a piece.

La Grange City Manager Shawn Raborn presented a plan to the City Council on Monday to raise the fees on burial plots in the La Grange City Cemetery. The City currently charges $500 per plot to residents and $1,000 to non-residents. Those fees would go up to $850 for residents and $1,700 for nonresidents.

Raborn said the fees, which provide for perpetual care, have not been increased since 2003. He said the increases are needed to keep up with inflation.

“When you spend your $500 to be interred here forever, we really take care of you forever,” Raborn said.

Raborn presented Council with a survey of rates from other nearby cemeteries. La Grange was tied with Fayetteville for the lowest fees.

City Resident Non-Res. La Grange $500 $1,000 (current)

La Grange $850 $1,700 (proposed)

Schulenburg $650 $850

Smithville $750 $1,500 (plus $75 interment fee)

Bastrop $1,500 $3,500

College Sta. $1,450 $1,450

Memorial Oaks Katy $9,995

Council did not take any action on Raborn’s proposal. Raborn said he would bring the proposal back for action at a meeting later this year. He suggested that the fees could go into effect in January or February 2022.

Raborn said the City should expect a surge in cemetery lot purchases before the new fees take effect.

“We had a surge last time (in 2003),” Raborn said. “We sold more cemetery spaces – it was like buy on get one free because it went from $250 to $500.”

In the future, Raborn said the City should keep up with inflation by increasing fees more often but in smaller increments.

In addition, Raborn said he may propose a lower fee for infant burials, something the City has not done in the past.

“We have an infant grave area, and I’d like to modify the fee, maybe go lower,” Raborn said. “I have a hard time in the office when families are going through that. We’d probably have a separate fee for that.”

The City Council has previously discussed building a columbarium to house cremated remains.

“I need to do some research, because are we entering a market that’s not there anymore?” Raborn asked. “There’s an area community that put one in a few years ago and haven’t sold one (space). I’m going to do some more market analysis.”