State Digging for Money Beyond the Grave

The death tax that cemeteries pay the state each time someone is buried is bringing in almost $75,000 a year more than the costs it was set up to cover. Over 1,900 state-regulated cemeteries pay an $8 fee to the state with each burial in order to cover their repair and maintenance costs from vandals and weather. With a deficit that has grown $1.4 billion in the last five months, that makes the tax one of the few sources of revenue on the rise of late. Hmm, Governor Paterson has been looking for unique ways to bring in revenue, but New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the state Cemetery Board should consider revising its fees upwards.