Board revives cemetery mill levy request

A proposed mill levy increase to help maintain Hill County’s nine cemeteries that was shot down by voters in November will be back on the ballot in the upcoming special congressional election, Hill County Public Cemetery District Manager Merrill Gray said Tuesday at the district board’s monthly meeting.

The mill levy proposal will be for up to four mills.

A four-mill levy would increase property taxes by $5.40 annually for a house with a market value of $100,000 and $10.80 for a house valued at $200,000.

Gray said the language for the proposed increase says “up to four mills.” If the district does not use all the mills in a given year, they can then reimburse the county and request fewer mills the following year’s budget. The district could later increase the mills levied back up to the four mills if needed.

The measure on the ballot in November, for an increase of three mills, was defeated 53 percent to 47 percent. Board Chair Tony Reum said the proposal failed because the board and its allies did not educate the public enough about the need for the increase.

“I believe that was our number one downfall, not getting enough information out to the people,” Reum said.

The district, which encompasses cemeteries south to Box Elder, west to Inverness and north to Spring Coulee, operated last year with a $39,500 budget shortfall. Gray said last year the cemetery took in $15,000 to $20,000 in revenue from burial plots and headstone sales. The district also receives 2.6 mills from the county.

Saturday burials are no longer available because the district no longer has the money to pay overtime to employees, Gray said.

Equipment used by the cemetery is also aging, he said, including the cemetery’s backhoe, which is nearing 39 years old.

Gray said a national trend away from burials and toward cremation is part of the cemetery’s problem.

In a written statement provided after the meeting, Gray said cemetery records show that in Hill County, cremation burials made up 61 percent of burials in 2016, compared to 42 percent in 2001. That number rose to 72 percent of burials in 2011.  

The cemetery does not charge as much for cremation burials because the plots are not as big, Gray said.

Next year, the strain on the district will increase, Gray said. At the start of this year, both the Highland Park and Calvary cemeteries were annexed by Havre, meaning those cemeteries will have to pay special assessments to the city.

A special election for Montana’s lone seat in the House of Representatives now held by Ryan Zinke would give the cemetery district another chance to put the proposal before the voters.

President Donald Trump selected Zinke as his nomination for secretary of the interior. If confirmed, Zinke would resign his House seat and, in accordance with state law, a special election would be held 85 to 100 days after his resignation.