Kilgore, TX — KILGORE — Expect the cost of dying — or at least getting buried — to rise in Kilgore.
The city’s cemeteries likely are raising their rates for plots — but they might get roomier.
For people whose dying wish is to be buried in the city in which they were born or lived, the price of burial spaces has remained the same for years. However, the Kilgore City Council recently directed a staff member to draft an ordinance increasing the amount that people will have to pay for a cemetery plot.
Some council members suggested doubling the prices, but no action was taken.
B.J. Owen, director of general services for Kilgore, told councilmembers that they should not “sell lots so cheap we’re pulling people out of Tyler … This is a service the city is able to provide.”
Some non-residents are buying space in Kilgore cemeteries, and it is not fair for residents paying city taxes to pay for the upkeep, according to Owen.
Expenses range from $175 to $200 per burial space, just to get it surveyed and mapped for the state, he said.
The city sells a lot at Danville Cemetery for $450 and at Kilgore Memorial Gardens for $350, but that is on the low side in comparison to most other cities, according to Owen.
Gladewater charges $500 per lot, Whitehouse, $750; and Jacksonville, $850.
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