Broke Families Can't Afford to Bury Their Dead

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USA TODAY reports Cemeteries are having trouble expanding because of the high cost of real estate and a drop in revenues as strapped families increasingly turn to cheaper cremations.

Communities struggling with budget deficits have also had to curtail spending on public cemeteries, which means many people may find that their hometown cemeteries are full. Cemeteries are not only seeing a drop in money coming from municipalities. Customers are scaling back as well.

Gary Brown, who oversees six cemeteries for the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, said they've seen a 17% decrease in prepaid plots over the past two years. That leaves the diocese with a lot less money for expansion. "People are at this time reluctant to take their extra funds and spend it on items that are not necessary," Brown said.

Cemeteries also haven't been able to rely on investments to bail them out. David Heisterkamp, president of the Pennsylvania Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, said most cemeteries invest part of their income into perpetual care funds for the maintenance of graves. The return on those investments is used to pay for daily operations.

Heisterkamp said those investments have been clobbered by the recession, forcing cemeteries to cut back on maintenance and lay off workers.