NZCCC Ngā Rau Hotu (the New Zealand Cemeteries and Crematoria Collective) –acknowledges the media release by the Funeral Directors Association and continues to work collaboratively with them as industry partners to better serve our communities. Cemeteries and Crematoria provide an essential service for the wellbeing of our communities, and it is vital they stay operational and affordable.

Many councils in NZ are facing huge cost pressures to make up for a variety of factors such as underinvestment in infrastructure and the need to keep rates affordable for residents. Due to this councils have been looking seriously at their fee structures and, after cost analysis have realised that many of the fees charged do not cover the cost of operating a cemetery or crematorium. This challenge is compounded by the fact that all burial plots in NZ are currently perpetual which means an obligation to maintain that plot forever.

When operational costs are not covered by fees the only option left is to either borrow to fund operations or use rates revenue to subsidise the cost. This is not sustainable. Crematoria specifically are facing rising gas prices by 20-30% in recent years, and this is predicted to rise by another 20-40% in the next decade.

NZCCC is happy to discuss funding and fees analysis options with all our members and provide support and best practice advice. After October, incoming councils will need to consider finance and revenue policies that are in place and ensure they strike the right balance of fees that cover operational costs while also staying affordable and offering a crucial service to our community. Fees do need to cover the costs of operations to an extent so that councils do not burden the rate payers with long term unsustainable maintenance costs. This is reflected well when you look at our private cemetery members in Auckland who can charge anywhere between $12,500 - $71,500 for a burial plot and interment. These cemeteries must run as a business to reflect the true cost of operations and perpetual maintenance of a cemetery.

An example of how council fees try to help the local ratepayer is with the out of district fee often applied to a burial or ashes plot, this fee acknowledges that if you are using council services but not a ratepayer then you are not contributing through rates to the long term maintenance of the cemetery and you are therefore charged an extra fee to cover that.

As an industry advocate, we support transparency and all councils raising their fees should be able to justify those increases. We do note however, that the FDANZ media release only provides the costs for 23 councils out of 61, and therefore, the average cost provided may not be completely accurate.

NZCCC fully supports the call for the government to address the WINZ funeral grant shortfall for the average cost of a funeral. When families are grieving, the stress of not being able to afford to bury or cremate their loved one compounds that grief even further. We would like to see the government increase the grant for those most in need to at least match the average cost of a funeral. This needs to be coupled with the recent spotlight put on the probate threshold, which the Ministry of Regulations has had complaints about.

Further to this, we acknowledge that many families may want to undertake a burial or cremation without using a funeral director, and many of our members may be able to assist with this. We appreciate the work that our funeral homes do to help our families and that they must charge accordingly to cover their business costs. Our colleagues at the Funeral Directors Association require transparency of quotes and pricing by all their members which we support.

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