(A) If an indigent person is claimed, the claimant shall apply for indigent burial to the village and complete an affidavit of indigency as well. The application must be accompanied by a death certificate and tax return and should be delivered to the Department of Finance.
(B) (1) Upon receiving the indigent burial form, the Village Administrator or his or her designee shall determine whether the deceased qualifies for indigent burial at the village’s expense after examination of the indigent decedent’s financial and familiar information, and/or the indigent status of a next of kin or other claimant, in accordance with the federal poverty guidelines published annually. Burial in the indigent section is mandatory unless the deceased was a veteran.
(2) Opening and closing fees for the burial of ashes shall be waived, but documented. Any funeral home applying for reimbursement under this section shall receive payment for burial services of an adult indigent person who has been cremated, less any amount of contributions, insurance or property, real or personal, or of any other thing of value which may be applied to the disposition expenses. The funeral home shall submit to the village an itemized invoice based on their most current published price list, along with a copy of the cremation permit and the cost from the actual cremation provider.
(C) The village’s preferred method of disposition of remains of an indigent person shall be cremation of the body with the remains to be retained by the next of kin or buried in an ash grave. If the decedent was proven to be of a religious faith that prohibits cremation, the decedent shall be buried rather than cremated.
(D) (1) In any case when an indigent is buried, the village shall cover the costs of burial and shall bury the deceased in the indigent section in the next available space, with a metal, stone, or concrete identifying marker bearing the deceased’s name and age, if known, and date of death.
(2) No other monument or marker may be placed at the grave site until the village has been reimbursed for the costs incurred. The burial reimbursement amount shall be determined by the Village Administrator based on available payment records and pricing of spaces, including opening and closing costs, in effect at the time of disposition.
(Res. 1-9-2024; passed 1-9-2024)