POST FALLS - With Evergreen Cemetery estimated to be full in three and a half years, the Post Falls City Council is exploring future options for the site along Spokane Street.

During a workshop on Tuesday night, the council directed staff to compile financial data on the cemetery before it makes any decisions regarding the cemetery's future.

Most of the council members appeared to support lot increases to help make the cemetery self-sustaining and to help fund a possible future expansion.

"I think that the expansion and cemetery need to be self-supporting," council member Skip Hissong said.

The cemetery is 11 acres, but the city owns an adjacent 6.5 vacant acres to the south for future expansion. Expanding onto that property, the cemetery will have an estimated 38 to 40 years until it is full.

City officials said it would take two to three years to develop the expansion site.

The cemetery had earlier expansions in 1960, 1968, 1993 and 2001.

Council comments on the future of the cemetery were widespread.

Council member Alan Wolfe questioned whether the city should even be in the cemetery business if it's not a money maker.

"We need to get our (lot) prices to where we can make money," Wolfe said.

Council member Kerri Thoreson said she doesn't believe the cemetery necessarily needs to be a cash cow, but also believes that it should pay for itself.

Dave Fair, director of Post Falls' Parks and Recreation Department - which includes the cemetery - said both increasing fees and determining whether the site should break even can be a delicate, fine line.

He said the city council in 2004 was uncomfortable with large lot fee hikes in fear of gouging residents. He also doesn't believe the point that not all Post Falls residents plan to be interred at the cemetery should hold much weight when considering the site's future.

"In some ways, (the cemetery) is insurance," he said, adding that not everybody utilizes the fire department either, but it's there when needed.

"(The cemetery) is a good service to the community. We have people who visit there daily, weekly and monthly. When there is a drop in service, we hear about it. It's a very personal site to a lot of people. There is a lot of history there."

Fair said the city's General Fund has supplemented the cemetery operation since he started at the city in 1994, so that's nothing new. He did not immediately know how much of the operation is currently supported by the General Fund. Once compiled by the finance department, that information will be presented to the council at a future meeting, he said.

"We have progressively gotten better on our cost recovery, but we are not at 100 percent," Fair said.

In some communities, private firms have purchased cemeteries from cities.

The city maintains a cemetery perpetual fund, which is currently at $260,000 and has paid for improvements at the site and equipment.

Fair said if the council believes it's critical that the cemetery be a money-maker, fees could be raised to cover expenses and even add to the perpetual fund.

"It can be done, but not with (the lots) that we have left for sale," Fair said.

The cost for burial lots at Evergreen range from $800 for the inner portion of the site to $1,200 for roadside lots. The lots increased from the range of $600 to $900 last year.

Lots in the seven community-owned Spokane-area cemeteries operated by the Fairmount Holdings nonprofit range from $1,815 to $4,742. Lots for the city-owned Forest and Riverview cemeteries in Coeur d'Alene are $1,050.

Cost for niches at Evergreen range from $650 to $750. At the two Coeur d'Alene cemeteries, they run $800.

While multiple Post Falls councilmembers appeared to support more fee increases to help the cemetery to financially break even, specific numbers weren't discussed and will be a part of a future agenda.

Fair said about 10 percent of Evergreen's recent lot sales have come from folks outside Kootenai County, so there hasn't been a dramatic increase of people across the border shopping for a good deal.

"But that doesn't mean it won't change," he said.

Fair said Post Falls used to have non-resident lot fees, but scrapped that due to difficulties in determining what specifically constituted being a "resident."

The council also asked staff to explore the feasibility of moving the 100-by-160 cemetery office and shop to the vacant portion of the cemetery as part of the possible future expansion.

Long-range city plans also call for widening and improving Spokane Street next to the cemetery.