The establishment and maintenance of cemeteries is the responsibility of municipalities and is not regulated at the state level, therefore municipalities, to the best of their understanding, regulate the use of cemeteries and the acquisition of grave plots, as well as determine related payments. According to the judgment of the Constitutional Court, cemeteries can no longer claim rent for a grave plot, as was previously done in several cemeteries.
There are approximately 260 cemetery managers and 26 assistant managers in Latvia, according to the State Revenue Service.
The remuneration of the cemetery manager or cemetery supervisor in Latvia is not very high. For example, in December 2020, the average hourly rate for a cemetery manager was 4.69 euros, for an assistant - 4.65 euros, which is one of the lowest hourly rates in Latvia.
The Housing and Environment Department of the Riga City Council has recently announced an opening for the position of cemetery manager in Matīsa cemetery, promising a salary of 834 euros per month. In order to apply for this position, here are the requirements: secondary or secondary vocational education; proficiency in the state language at level C1; ability to work under conditions of high stress, delegate, coordinate and control the performance of duties; ability to work with MS Windows operating system, the required MS Office programs, Internet browser program and office equipment; good communication skills, accuracy and responsibility for the timely and high-quality performance of the required tasks. Higher education, previous work experience in a managerial position, proficiency in at least one foreign language (Russian, English, etc.) are mentioned as a desirable but not mandatory requirement. The main responsibilities of the cemetery manager in the Matīsa cemetery will be to ensure the timely and high-quality performance of the functions and tasks assigned to the cemetery; to draw up and issue certificates, enter into agreements regarding the maintenance of cemeteries, organize, control and accept works related to the maintenance and improvement of the cemetery; to know the requirements of regulatory enactments in matters within the competence of the cemetery, etc. If anyone is interested in this vacancy, the Department of Housing and the Environment is accepting applications until March 23.
One of the duties of the cemetery manager is also to supervise the work of gravediggers. The Competition Council (CC) has concluded that the provision of grave-digging services in Latvia is not going too smooth.
During the market supervision in the market of grave pit excavation services, the CC found that several municipalities that provide this service restrict or even exclude the right of private merchants to operate in this market.
CC started monitoring the market after receiving a complaint about a possible violation of competitive neutrality in the activities of a public person - Liepāja City Municipality - by granting its institution Liepājas kapsētu pārvalde (Liepāja Cemetery Authority) the exclusive right to provide grave pit excavation services in Liepāja.
To get an idea of how the situation looks elsewhere in Latvia, the CC obtained information from 10 state cities and six municipalities with a large population and concluded that most municipalities are not involved in providing such a service. However, at the same time, the CC revealed that in the largest cities of Latvia - Riga, Liepāja, Ventspils, Daugavpils, as well as in Talsi, the excavation service is provided by the municipality or its capital company. Similarly, the capital companies of several municipalities have not only acquired the exclusive right to provide grave pit excavation services, but are also actively involved in the provision of other funeral services.
For example, the CC found out that “Talsi municipality and its capital company do not participate in the grave pit excavation service, but the municipality buys this service from the municipality-owned capital company SIA Talsu namsaimnieks for the needs of Talsu municipality social service.” After researching the website of SIA Talsu namsaimnieks and contacting SIA Talsu namsaimnieks, CC found that SIA Talsu namsaimnieks offers a wide range of funeral services - funeral hall rental; funeral accessories (coffins, crosses, candles and other funeral ritual accessories); transportation of the deceased to the chapel and storage; preparation of the deceased for the ceremony; grave digging; pallbearer services. The price list of services indicates that the service fee is 100.00 euros with VAT. In its reply to CC, the Talsi Municipality Council has indicated that in cases when the service is purchased for persons whose relatives or other persons have not applied, the price paid by the municipality to SIA Talsu namsaimnieks is 36.41 euros.
The CC points out that public persons - state and municipality institutions, as well as their owned capital companies - are prohibited from impeding, restricting or distorting competition. The ban came into force on January 1, 2020 and is set out in Article 14.1 of the Competition Law.
The CC agreed with Daugavpils and Ventspils municipalities for them to amend the procedure according to the regulations, allowing private market participants to start providing grave pit digging services. The CC also points out that the municipalities of Riga and Liepāja should also assess whether there is a possibility to allow the provision of grave pit excavation services to private market participants.
Summarizing the information provided by 14 municipalities to the Competition Council, it can be seen that the price of the pit excavation service varies from 35 to 160 euros. The price set by the municipality was 35.57 euros in Riga (RD MVD), 47 euros - in Ventspils (VLK), 50.82 euros - in Liepaja (Kapsētu pārvalde), 75.24 euros - in Daugavpils (Labiekārtošana D), 100 euros - in Talsi (Talsu namsaimnieks). In turn, private companies offer this service in Talsi and Valmiera for 121 euros, in Jelgava - for 165 euros.
CC has also observed a tendency that the prices of private market participants are significantly higher. CC admits that it could be related to the volume effect, as well as not excluding the possibility that the pit excavation service could be partially cross-subsidized from other services provided by the municipality or its capital company, including funeral services.
In 2018, cemeteries were also inspected by the State Audit Office (SAO), concluding that the different attitudes of municipalities towards payment for the use of cemeteries create unequal conditions that prevent residents from freely choosing a place to bury a relative. In addition, it is often necessary to pay even more for the acquisition of a grave plot than for a funeral - there are municipalities where the acquisition of one grave plot costs even several hundred euros, which can be a significant obstacle for a person when choosing a cemetery.
According to the SAO, most municipalities had set a one-time payment for granting a grave plot, but often the wording of the payment does not give an accurate picture of what is being paid - municipalities have set a one-time rent, grave plot fee, grave plot allocation, designation, etc. In several municipalities, in addition to the fee for obtaining a grave plot, there were also payments for drawing up documents or payments for burial, as well as annual grave plot rent payments.
Also, in some municipalities, people had to pay extra to get a grave plot for future burials, i.e. to reserve a grave plot.
The SAO reveals that in one municipality, in 2018, even four payments had to be made in order to bury the deceased - for signing a contract, for granting a single grave plot, for registering the buried in the register, for allocating the grave plot.
In both of our neighboring countries, Estonia and Lithuania, the area of cemeteries is regulated by law, and in Lithuania it is stipulated that there is no charge for obtaining a grave plot.
Ombudsman Juris Jansons also drew attention to cemetery payments, who already in 2017 ordered the Jūrmala City Council to make amendments to the binding regulations and to cancel the fee for renting a grave plot, which in his view was arbitrarily and illegally set. As the Jūrmala City Council did not make any amendments, the Ombudsman submitted an application to the Constitutional Court, which, following this application, initiated a case regarding the norms of the binding regulations of the Jūrmala City Council, which provide for rent for the use of a grave plot.
In 2019, the Constitutional Court ruled that the norms of the binding regulations of Jūrmala City Council, which provide for the rent for the use of a grave plot, do not comply with the Constitution. Consequently, Jūrmala and some other municipalities had to abolish the usual practice of charging rent for a grave plot.
As the Court emphasized, the fact that the municipality demands a fee for the provision of a grave plot as a fee for a service is contrary to the rule that even after a person's death, his or her body must be treated with respect. Thus, the Court concluded that the provision of a grave plot is not a service for which the municipal council would be entitled to set a fee.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Court judgment, in 2019 the Riga City Council abolished the fee for providing a grave plot to the residents. Consequently, the Housing and Environment Department of the Riga City Council needs an additional 400,000 euros a year, according to what was discussed at the Riga City Council meeting at the end of last year.
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