Politics & Government

With Veterans' Cemetery Expansion Almost Done, City Council Raises Burial Rates

Council approved an increase for full graves to $6,443, up from $5,425, and hiked cremation costs by $428.

The expansion of Sonoma Valley Veterans Memorial Park Cemetery by 32 plots is expected to finish this month, and the Sonoma City Council has raised its burial rates there to help pay for the expansion.

At its Sept. 16 meeting, the council raised the fee for full graves to $6,443, up from $5,425, and hiked cremation costs by $428, from $2,480 to $2,908. The council last audited its burial rates in 2010.

The council did not raise rates at either Mountain Cemetery or Valley Cemetery, city officials said.

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Once the cemetery expansion is finished, the city of Sonoma will begin taking reservations by appointment at the City Hall Cemetery Department.

The Veterans Cemetery land was acquired in 1996 and developed with 150 full graves and 300 cremation graves. All plots were sold as of February 2013.

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In 2005, the Sonoma Valley Veterans Memorial Park Cemetery was founded veterans' advocate Jim Parks, who died in June 2012 at the age of 93.


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