Policy Book

FEES AND PERMITS

Cemetery Fees

Fees for services are set by the Portage Cemetery Board and are changed from time to time as needed.  Contact the Portage Cemetery Clerk, Carrie John 435-279-5041, for current fees. 

There are differences in cost for residents and non-residents.  A resident is considered a taxpayer for 5 years in the Portage Cemetery Maintenance District and may purchase one plot for themselves and one per minor dependent at resident price. Additional plots can be purchased at the current non-resident price. 

Plots purchased can be donated to other individuals but not sold. 

The Cemetery will buy back plots at the original purchase price with the receipt.

Every plot sold is subject to rules and regulations that have been or may be adopted.  The rules and regulations shall be subject to such changes as are found necessary for the protection of plot owners, the remains of the dead and the preservation of the cemetery. 

The Portage Cemetery Board members are hereby authorized and required to collect in advance prices and fees for the opening and closing of graves or other services which shall include but not be limited to properly disinterring bodies and properly restoring the earth and grounds, recording each burial, disinterment or removal, and raised monument privileges.  The fees shall be such amounts as are determined by the Portage Cemetery Board from time to time by resolution.

No grave shall be opened in the Cemetery until arrangement for payment of the fees for the labor and expenses in opening the grave shall be made. 

The Portage Cemetery Board shall from time to time by resolution adjust the price at which burial rights shall be sold and fees which shall be charged for various cemetery services to be provided.

Burial Rights

The Portage Cemetery is a public park and will remain so as long as Portage Cemetery Maintenance District exists.  Only permissive burial rights are sold.  The Cemetery retains the title of the Cemetery property.  A certificate of plot ownership will be issued to each purchaser after fees are paid in full. 

Burial rights are conveyed to the person or persons named therein and their heirs perpetually.  All legal heirs are presumed to have legal claim to the rights or burial, unless specified differently in a legal will or probate court. 

Burials by or of heirs, after the original parties named on burial certificates are deceased, require the permission of all living heirs, in writing, specifying the plot location(s).  This may be done by letter or on forms supplied by the Portage Cemetery Board. 

The Cemetery master file is considered the correct record.  Any discrepancy between the master file and the certificate of burial rights will be considered a clerical error.  The Cemetery Board reserves the right to recall, correct and reissue the correct certificates. 

Transfer of Burial Rights 

Owners of burial certificates may transfer their burial rights to other parties by filling out and signing a form provided by the Cemetery Clerk. Payment of transfer fees as set by the Cemetery Board is required before a new certificate is issued.  When possible, the original certificate of burial rights should be turned in. 

Unused Plots

Plots that have been unused, or have no written notices of claim or interest on, for more than sixty (60) years will be reclaimed by the Cemetery.  Every effort made practically and legally, will be made to find the owner or legal heirs before the plots, by lawful means, will be reverted. If a reverted certificate of title or right to a plot is presented later, the legal holder is entitled to be compensated at the buyback price established by resolution of the Cemetery Board.  All proceeds of the resale of reverted property will be placed in the perpetual care fund.

Marker or Monument Permit

Permission is required to place headstones in the Cemetery.  Permission is available from the Cemetery Board Chairman. Monument dealers may obtain permission before the monument is delivered.

Record Research 

Copies of Cemetery records for research, historical or genealogical purposes will be made available upon payment of copy fees, which are set by resolution of the Cemetery Board.

BURIALS

Grave Opening

The funeral director or a responsibility party can arrange for a grave opening. Proper and complete information is required for accurate record keeping.  No person except the owner of the burial rights on a plot, will be buried on the plot, unless a letter has been signed by the owner or legal heirs to those rights giving permission for the use of the plot.  The permission letter must be turned in before the grave can be opened and will be kept as a permanent record. 

The following information is required to open a grave: the full name of the deceased; the place of interment (obtained from the Cemetery master file, unless new purchase); the deceased’s birth date, place of birth, death date, place of death; the full names of the deceased’s father and mother; the name, address and telephone number of the next of kin or informant; the location, date and time of funeral services; and the name of the funeral director or mortician.

Burial Information

No person except the owner of the burial rights of a plot, will be buried in the plot, unless a letter or a form provided by the Cemetery Board Chairman has been signed by the owner or legal heirs to those rights giving permission for the use of the plot.  The letter or form must be turned in before the grave opening and will be kept as a permanent record.

Infraction of Burial

Disinter any body in any Cemetery, except under the direction of the Cemetery Board who shall, before disinterment, require a written permission from both the Health Department and the owner of the plot or his or her heirs, with which written authorization shall be filed and preserved in a record kept for such purposes.

Disinter or remove the body of a person who has died from a contagious disease within two years after the date of burial, unless the body was buried in a hermetically sealed casket or vault and is found to be so encased at the time of disinterment.

It is an infraction to inter anything other than the remains of human bodies in the Cemeteries.

It is an infraction to bury the body of any person within this district except in the Cemetery or a private Cemetery, unless by special permission of the Cemetery Board under such rules and regulations that may prescribe.

Hours of Burial

Burials are accepted by appointment.  No burials will be accepted on Sunday or on the following holidays; Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Memorial Day.

Burials Per Grave

Only one burial per plot is allowed.  A three (3) day notice is needed for preparations for burial.  Special requests or requirements can be worked out with the Portage Cemetery Chairman of the Board.

Cremations and Infants Burials

Two cremations, two infants, or one cremation and one infant can be placed in one plot

Vaults

Vaults are required for all burials.  Vaults should be made of concrete, steel or other structurally sound material as approved by the Cemetery Board.

Unless in writing waived by the Cemetery Board it shall be unlawful for any person to be buried in the Cemetery unless the casket shall be placed in a vault which is brick lined or made of concrete, fiberglass, steel or of such other material approved by the Cemetery Board, substantially constructed and covered with a similar durable material.

State law requires that no wood shall be used as a permanent part of the construction of any part of the vault.

Orientation of Graves

By convention, burial spaces are laid in rows with the head of the grave at the the west and the foot at the east, individual grave tracts usually measure 40 inches wide by eight feet long.  Traditional burial customs have the wife placed to the left side of the husband, however placement is a matter of choice.  The Cemetery Board will help in the decision as needed.

Disinterments of Exhumations 

Cemetery grounds are sacredly devoted to the interment or repose of the dead.  When disinterring or removing the remains from the Cemetery is necessary, compliance with all applicable state laws is required.  The Cemetery Board will schedule and direct the exhumation after applicable fees have been paid.  Consultation with a funeral director is recommended for this procedure.

Movement of Graves

The Cemetery Board reserves the right to move gravesites to remedy past errors in gravesites locations.  Before making any change to gravesite positioning, the Cemetery Board will make every effort to contact the heirs of the deceased to inform them of the move.  In such situations the Cemetery Board will make every effort to be as minimally invasive as practical, and in no instance shall the Cemetery Board move a gravesite outside of the Cemetery boundaries.

All costs associated with the movement of a gravesite required by the Cemetery shall be borne by the Cemetery.

Monuments and Memorials

Ownership and Responsibility

Headstones are personal property.  All monuments within the cemetery are the property of the plot owner, their heirs, or the responsible party that ordered and placed them.  All care and upkeep of the monuments are the responsibility of the owner.  The Portage Cemetery is maintained by the crews or contracted labor who exercise great care in keeping the grounds groomed.  The Cemetery Board will not be responsible for inadvertent scratches and chips that occur from routine maintenance.  Such happenings are a condition that go with the privilege of placing markers in the Cemetery.

Requirements

All headstones or markers must have a concrete border six inches wide and  installed flush with the surface of the lawn.  All permanent vases must be attached to the monument, stone base or cast into the concrete border.  No open holes in the concrete base will be accepted as flower vases.  No vases separate from the memorial will be permitted.  Memorials will be placed in an orderly manner in pre-designated rows as directed by the Cemetery Board.  Flat markers, level with the ground, with approval of the Cemetery Board, may be installed between established rows.  No flower vases or containers, permanent or otherwise, will be permitted per grave.  Family monuments must comply with this section.

Size of Monuments

A monument must be placed within the boundary of the grave or graves of the owner in conformity with established rows.  Raised markers on a single plot must not exceed 36” wide by 36“ tall including the base.  Raised markers on a double plot must not exceed 48” wide by 36” tall including the base.  Raised monuments in adjacent rows must be a minimum of six and one half feet apart unless special arrangements are made with the Cemetery Board.  If the Cemetery Board determines a newly placed monument is oversized and interferes with sprinkling irrigation, the owner will be charged for the necessary modifications to the sprinkler system.

Interface with Excavation

The owner or responsible party is responsible for the removal and replacement of a marker that must be moved for the excavation of a grave, or for the expenses of such service.

Recommendations

Consult with a monument manufacturer on monument materials suitable to handle the conditions at the Cemetery.  Markers are subject to temperature extremes, snow, ice, sprinkler irrigation water and occasional nicks and chips from mowing equipment.  It is recommended that raised markers have a rough edge.

Veterans Crosses

Veterans crosses are available from local veteran or civic groups to be installed.  Upkeep and maintenance are the responsibility of the monument owner.

Planting of Flowers, Trees, or Shrubs

Cemetery ordinance prohibits the planting of any trees, shrubs, or flowers in the cemetery without the permission of the Cemetery Board.  The Cemetery Board will designate an appropriate planting area for any such donation or gift.

Obstructions

No fences, foot markers or other obstructions or installations, except a hearthstone or monument will be permitted in the cemetery.

Except as provided by the rules and regulations of the Cemetery Board, it shall be unlawful for any person to erect or maintain any fence, corner post, coping or boundary of any kind, to plant any vegetation upon any lot or plots, streets, alley or walk in the cemetery or grade the ground or land thereof.

Cemetery Board shall, whenever required, furnish the true lines of any lots according to official survey, shall prevent and prohibit any markings of the same except by official landmarks, and shall prevent and prohibit any grading thereof that might destroy or interfere with the general slope of the land.

Decorations

Memorial Service Flower

The Cemetery crew will remove funeral service flowers seven days after the service.   Special mementos should be removed at the conclusion of the services by the family.  After the grave is closed, the casket spray is placed at the center of the grave.  Other flowers and containers and wreaths are laid down in an orderly fashion around the spray.

Flower Policy

Properly displayed flowers add to the beauty and character of the Cemetery.  Flowers are allowed throughout the year.  The Cemetery groundskeeper will not be responsible for flowers or other personal property left in the Cemetery.  Be aware that on occasion uncaring individuals have removed expensive flower arrangements without patron or groundskeepers knowledge or consent.

Flower Regulations

Cemetery regulations require that all flowers, real or artificial, must be placed in a container attached to the monument.  Flowers in movable containers must be placed on the headstone or base to ensure easy access for grass cutting.  For safety reasons, glass containers, wires, shepherd hooks, sticks or pegs driven in the ground are not permitted and will be immediately removed.

General Clean Up

Throughout the year unsightly or wilted decorations will be removed to maintain the beauty of the Cemetery.  This includes all flowers and decorations not in permanent containers and those that are wilted or damaged in permanent containers.  All flowers and decorations picked up are disposed of.

Memorial Day

Cemetery groundskeeper will begin preparation for Memorial Day prior to the holiday.  Sprinkler irrigation is stopped from Friday afternoon through the end of the Memorial Day to allow for the placement of decorations.  Flower regulations as listed above will be strictly enforced.   Flowers will be removed the following Monday after Memorial Day.  When the clean sweep is done all decorations that are removed are taken to the county landfill for disposal.  Those wishing to reclaim their decorations are encouraged to do so prior to Monday.  Shepherd hooks that may have been placed in the ground during the week of Memorial will also need to be removed prior to Monday.