Committee considers shifting cemetery mowing budget to highway and splitting duties

Committee members discussed how to fund and track cemetery mowing and routine maintenance.

Members noted difficulty tracking cemetery mowing in the current line and proposed moving the $58,000 cemetery mowing allocation into the highway budget where staff could track cemetery mowing separately (for example, by creating a cemetery payroll code). One committee member proposed hiring a staffer to take on cemetery care and suggested the highway department could absorb the duties if a stable payroll classification is created.

Members debated sequencing in the budget process and recommended moving cemetery to the end of the highway discussion so highway members can consider it in context. The committee asked staff to present how cemetery mowing would be coded and tracked if moved to highway and to provide options for hiring or training an existing employee to assume the care responsibilities.

No formal vote was taken. Members agreed to revisit the item with clearer payroll coding options and to coordinate presentation timing in future budget workshops.