Bill Rust, Lee's Summit Cemetery Sexton, knows first hand how to create and pass a bill in Missouri. The first Cemetery Property Bill was submitted in February of 2000. It was not passed. However, in January of 2001, a new Cemetery Property Bill, HB 408, was introduced to the House. On June 11, 2001, Missouri Governor, Bob Holden, signed it. This new Bill will affect many Lee's Summit residents, both past, present and future. The summary of the bill states "This bill allows the conveyance of cemetery property, other than ground in which human remains have been buried, back to a county, city, town, or village after 50 years if the grave site or property is unused or unclaimed.” There is a potential of having 1,300 additional grave spaces available from conveyance back to the cemetery. The political subdivision (city) must give proper notice of proceedings to transfer ownership. To understand the need for such a bill, it helps to know some history.
The official Lee's Summit Cemetery came into existence in 1867. It now contains approximately 16,000 grave spaces, with over 8,000 people interned in the cemetery. The cemetery has expanded over the years with 5 additions to the original plot. Many spaces in the older sections of the cemetery, as records show, were sold at $10 for 12 grave spaces. In some cases, families wanted to create their “family lots” while others attempted to resell their extra spaces. Several family lots are identifiable with copings or decorative stones that help to determine the area each family owns. Examples include the Howard and Blackwell family lots. Mr. Rust recognizes the importance of maintaining the integrity of the family lots and the cemetery as a whole, so even though there are empty spaces within some of these lots, the cemetery will not resale spaces that are within a family lot. In fact, grave spaces within an obvious family lot are not included in the 1,300 estimate.
The Lee’s Summit Historical Cemetery has been operating under the direction of the Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation department since 1993. Parks and Recreation created a business plan to devise strategies that would enhance the efficiency of the operation of the cemetery as well as create new opportunities for revenue to care for the cemetery now and in the future. A trust fund was established in 1996 to bank any revenue that exceeds on expenses. It is hoped that this balance can be grown to an amount that the interest earned would pay for the care of the cemetery in perpetuity. That balance has grown to over $425,000. The first strategies to be implemented focused on cost savings methods to reduce operating expenses, which included contract mowing services, reduction in office hours and others. In addition to controlling the costs of operation, Mr. Rust set out to improve the aesthetics of the cemetery. He did this by improving the turf care; removal of the chain link fencing; timely removal of dying or storm damaged trees, overgrown shrubs and broken sidewalks and by improving drainage and the perimeter landscaping.
With the goal of the trust fund to reach $1.6 million and few grave spaces to sale, the addition of 1,300 grave spaces could bring in over $1.5 million in sales revenue for the cemetery. As graves are conveyed and resold, there will be opportunities to provide additional grave opening services along with monument sales and installation. This proposal would eventually free up $75,000 annually in city general fund contributions to the cemetery.
The law will be in effect as of August 28, 2001. Mr. Rust and Tom Lovell, Lee's Summit Parks and Recreation Administrator would like to thank Representative Pat Kelly and Bill Kenney for the efforts put forth during this endeavor. Our Lee's Summit City Attorneys, especially Jon Kirke, were also an integral part of developing this proposal. If you have questions or would like more information on House Bill No. 408, you can visit - or call Bill Rust at 816-969-1590.