'Death tax': New funeral levy blasted as inappropriate and unnecessary

From July 1, 2024, a levy of $41 per cremation; $63 per ash interment and $156 per burial will be applied.

The levy will not apply to children under 12, miscarriages or stillborn babies, and destitute people.

Across NSW, council cemeteries undertake more than 40 per cent of all burials but this rises to more than 80 per cent of all burials in rural and regional NSW.

The move has been lambasted by regional councils who say they simply cannot afford to foot the bill.

NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders described the levy as a "death tax".

"Right now we have a cost-of-living crisis and it is going to cost you to die," he said.

Country Mayors Association deputy chairman Rick Firman said he didn't think the levy was "appropriate or necessary".

"Ultimately it is the family that suffers," he said.

He said councils, particularly regional councils, were so financially cash-strapped and that they simply could not absorb the cost.

"We cannot keep doing what we are doing without state and federal government helping out, there has been cost shifting galore and it has finally caught up," Cr Firman said.

"The number one issue for councils is financial sustainability, something has to give, and this is an ill-considered decision."

Griffith City mayor Doug Curran baulked at the NSW government imposed levy, telling ACM's Area News the levy it yet another example of cost shifting.

"It really is a case of them taxing us when we are alive and taxing us when we have passed on," mayor Doug Curran said.

"As far as I'm concerned it's just another case of cost shifting that trickles through us down to ratepayers.

"Of course, councils are the ones who will be held to account for it by residents," he said.

"It means more administration work for us and more costs imposed on the community," Cr Curran said.

"This is a death tax, plain and simple, and I don't think it's appropriate given costs around interment are already quite expensive."

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NSW Lands Minister Steve Kamper rejected the idea that it was a "new levy".

"For years, we have seen horror story after horror story, family after family, report after report tell us we need to fix the long-running crisis in NSW cemeteries and crematoria,' he said.

"The former Government received these reports, heard these stories and they sat on their hands and did nothing.

"We are simply applying the existing levy on Crown cemeteries to all cemetery operators, so that everyone pays their fair share to ensure families are protected."

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