MOURNERS in Inverell will be burdened with higher costs to bury their loved ones under a plan to extend a state government levy.
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Under the top-up plan of the interment industry levy, council cemeteries will need to charge the fee for each burial and cremation they undertake.
This means Inverell's bereaved would be charged an extra $41 per cremation, $63 per ash interment and $156 per burial.
The higher fee would be applied to all burials from July 1, 2024.
Mayor Paul Harmon vowed he would fight the move by the state government which he labelled as "more cost shifting from the state to local councils".
"The timing of this planned levy is very poor, Council has already drawn up its budget and it is on public exhibition, we haven't been able to advertise this in our budget," Mayor Harmon said.
"This is yet another example of the state government not knowing what happens outside Sydney, Newcastle or Wollongong."
The proposed levy was discussed at Inverell Shire Council's April meeting.
A state government brochure provided to Council said the levy would be used to fund the cost of the industry regulator and regulate the sector appropriately.
"To ensure Cemeteries and Crematoria NSW can be the active and sustainable regulator we need them to be, we are proposing to build on the former government's Interment Industry Levy to extend it beyond Crown cemeteries to all active cemeteries in NSW, driving equity and levelling the playing field in the sector," Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper said.
"The levy represents a less than 1.6 per cent cost of a $10,000 burial."
But Mayor Harmon said that figure was Sydney-centric and did not accurately reflect costs and issues borne by regional cemeteries and crematoria.
Inverell Council has an annual budget of $28,000 for all cemetery maintenance and works; the increased levy would absorb much of this money, meaning Council would be forced to shift the increase on to mourners, he said.
"Ninety per cent of consumers complain about the price of burials or cremations in Inverell; this is yet another tax grieving families don't need," Mayor Harmon said.
Council currently holds contracts for 904 pre-need interments, or arrangements and payments for funerals before a death. The levy would apply to these.
Council has until May 9 to provide feedback on the planned levy increase.
Mayor Harmon said he would be seeking a delay in implementing the levy.
" A document should be supplied by [the state government] to explain to consumers, what the levy is, how the money is being used and how they can contact authorities for further information," he said.
Cemeteries and Crematoria NSW oversees 1500 cemeteries and crematoria across NSW.
Rural and regional council cemeteries undertake more than 80 per cent of all burials, according to Local Government of NSW president Darriea Turley.
"LGNSW understands the need for the NSW Government to undertake budget repair, but a cash grab from families of the deceased in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis is not the right way to go about this," Mr Turley said.
He supported Mayor Harmon's opposition to the levy and said he would write to Mr Kamper to reverse the new tax.
