With the city’s treasury looking better going into the 2006 budget-planning cycle, city commissioners Wednesday discussed buying troubled Memorial Park Cemetery.

The cemetery was on a list of anticipated budget issues that city commissioners will discuss during the coming months. But that doesn’t mean commissioners are enthusiastic about the prospect of acquiring the East Lawrence cemetery, which has been the subject of complaints about its maintenance and the timely placement of tombstones.

“I’m willing to have the discussion, but I would much rather that the current owner take care of the property in the manner that it was intended,” said City Commissioner Sue Hack.

Mayor Mike Rundle said a more proper role for the city might be to help ensure that complaints are being adequately addressed. The cemetery, 1517 E. 15th St., is under investigation by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.

Last year the Secretary of State’s Office audited the cemetery’s finances and found that the owner of the cemetery, Houston-based Mike Graham & Associates, was not complying with a state law that requires private cemeteries deposit 15 percent, or a minimum of $25 per plot, from burial plot sales into a permanent maintenance fund. The case was then forwarded to Atty. Gen. Phill Kline’s office.

“We have been talking to the attorney general’s office about the situation,” said City Manager Mike Wildgen. “We’re very cognizant of the issues that are out there.”

Commissioners are expected to discuss specific budget issues at a series of study sessions in April and May. Commissioners are scheduled to approve the budget in August.

Ed Mullins, the city’s director of finance, told commissioners that the city’s revenue picture was improving. He said sales tax revenues were back on the increase after several years of remaining nearly flat. Sales tax revenues in 2005 are projected to grow to $21.2 million, up from about $20.4 million in 2004. Mullins also is predicting the city’s property tax valuation will grow by at least 6 percent.

“The good news is it appears that we can absorb some of the issues that we know about,” Mullins said. “This is a big improvement over what we have seen, even compared to a year ago.”

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