
		Casey Township Clark County, Casey, IL

FYI- Casey Senior Social Center

Can now be found under the " Special Services " page

Casey Cemeteries

Casey Township is blessed to have two large cemeteries. Both Washington

Street Cemetery and Cumberland are funded 100 % by Casey Township. The

everyday operation of the cemeteries are run by the Cemetery Board who is

appointed by the Casey Township Supervisor and approved by the Casey Township

Board.

*****************************************************************

Casey Township Supervisor -- Carl Vernon (217) 932-6729

Cemetery Board Members -- Jay Markwell (217) 932-4986

Jim Yates (217) 932-5645

Jim Niksch (217) 932-4316

*****************************************************************

Cemetery Lots may be purchased from the township by calling

Carolyn Yocom @ (217) 932-5750 or

Markwell Funeral Home @ (217) 932-2131

*****************************************************************

Prices for Casey Cemeteries

Effective Jan 1, 2012

******************

Full Grave Lot ( 5 Graves) $ 750.00

Single Grave Space ( 1 Grave) $ 150.00

************

Grave Openings

Monday - Saturday $ 450.00

Sunday & Holiday $ 650.00

$ 100 pr/hr extra charge for any funeral not over by 4:00 pm

Add $100.00 for frozen ground

****************

ASHES

Monday - Friday $ 200.00

Saturday $250.00

Sunday & Holidays $ 400.00

****************

Infant Graves (Under 48 inches)

Monday - Friday $200

Saturday $ 250

Sunday and Holidays $300

****************

Newsletter #1

I Need Your Help

Casey Township has some big decisions to make in the near future and I need your help and input. The issue at hand has to do with the Casey Township Cemeteries. You see, Casey Township agreed to accept the responsibility of both cemeteries many years ago, but we were never given any source of revenue to fund the operation of the cemeteries.

To this point we have funded the operation of both cemeteries through the General Fund of Casey Township, however as the Cemeteries continue to grow in size every year, the cost of maintenance and upkeep keeps going up and up.

As the cost of Cemetery maintenance and upkeep has gone up and up in the recent years Casey Township has had to squeeze the budget of every program we support. We have cut the Fire Dept., the Senior Citizens Social Program, the Thrift Shop, the Park Dept. and have had to completely cut some programs that we in the past have supported, just to maintain our cemeteries. We have squeezed and squeezed till there is no where else to squeeze and the Cemeteries may not be totally funded in the near future unless some sort of action is taken.

I and the Casey Township Board believe that it is extremely important that the cemeteries be kept in very good shape in honor of those who have gone before us. I, Carl Vernon, Casey Township Supervisor will always put the Casey Township Cemeteries as a number one priority of the township. We must never allow them to grow up in weeds.

The State has recognized this problem exists in many communities and has given us a solution to the problem. It will cost us all a very little amount in new taxes and will solve the situation at the cemeteries for ever. The decision will be yours. In the future I will write several articles on:

How we got to where we are today.

The Responsibilities of Casey Township

How can we solve the problem.

What will happen if we do nothing

Things we need to do at the cemeteries

Carl Vernon

*********************************************************

Newsletter #2

How We Got to Where We Are Today

Much of Casey's history evolves around our cemeteries. An 18 inch worn marble slab off the east drive in Casey Washington Street Cemetery marks the grave of little Sarah J Watts, the first person buried in the cemetery.

As her body had not been allowed in the Original Cumberland Cemetery, this simple gravestone was a monument to tolerance when the little five year old girl was laid to rest on the property of George L Mead in 1865.

When her parents, Mr. and Mrs. R.L. Watts, settled in the town of Cumberland, later known as Casey, in the early 1860's they found they were in a strictly different community, and were treated coldly by their neighbors because they were of a different faith.

When little Sarah died, the parents had to bury her in a field outside the original cemetery. Mrs. Watts worried a great deal because her daughter didn't have a better burial, so her husband arranged to have her reburied in the new Mound Cemetery. The Mound was referred to as "away out there" at that time because the Cumberland residents seldom traveled this far away from home.

The body of the little girl had been in the Mound Cemetery for only a few weeks, when it was discovered that some animal (thought to be a coyote) had been digging in the ground near the grave. Mrs. Watts again was worried, lest the body of her daughter be dug up, and insisted that her body be moved a second time.

Mr. Mead told the distressed parents that the rolling plot next to his home, located on what is now Washington Street Road was not in use, and that they could bury their daughter there if Mr. Watts would help him clear the ground of thick growth and hazel brush. This was an ideal place as it was close to the Watts home.

This started the old MeadCemetery, which was renamed 40 years ago to Casey Washington Street Cemetery. Many, many years ago Casey Township accepted the responsibility of the Maintenance and the upkeep of both Casey Cumberland and Casey Washington Street Cemeteries.

So as you can see the responsibility of the Casey Township is enormous in preserving the history of Casey Township, honoring all of those who have gone before us, and providing a place of rest for generations to come.

Next week I will discuss the Responsibilities of Casey Township as far as the cemeteries are concerned. 02 / 06 Carl Vernon

**********************************************************************

Newsletter #3

The Responsibilities of Casey Township

As the State keeps coming up with new laws and demands the cost of cemetery operation keeps going up and up. Because of the Burr Oak situation in Chicago the state has implemented many new rules and regulations. And we havn't seen anything yet. As the new rules and regulations come down the pike it cost the township more and more just to stay in compliance.

There are many monuments in both cemeteries that are in bad need of repair. We need to be resetting 20 or 30 stones every year. Since most of these have no living relatives the repair becomes the responsibility of the township. And there are many burials on the east side of Washington Street Cemetery, many of which are Veterans, that have no markers at all. We could fix all this however there is just no money to do this.

Then there is the mausoleum. The mausoleum is a part of the history of Washington Street Cemetery. The mausoleum, which was built in 1923, currently has 67 bodies in it. Of the 67 bodies there are no known surviving relatives. There are no known perpetual care funds in existence for the care and continuous maintenance of the Mausoleum and its roof. This puts the full burden of its care to the sole responsibility of Casey Township. Every effort must be taken to preserve the history of the mausoleum. It needs maintenance and upkeep now and there just isn't any money available for that.

We are running out of grave spaces to sell. We have enough land to develop into cemetery lots to last us for the next 100 years. But they have to be laid out and developed and there is no money for that.

And then there are the roads that take us through the cemeteries are really bad and need to be upgraded. There is no money for that.

It just takes every penny we can muster to keep the cemeteries mowed and trimmed. And now we are being squeezed on that. There just isn't enough money. With your help we can solve the cemeteries money problems for many years to come and we can fix it so no future Township Board could ever deny our cemeteries the necessary upkeep to keep them looking neat and beautiful.

In my next article I will discuss how we How We Can Do This

02 / 13 Carl Vernon

**************************************************************************

Newsletter # 4

How Can We Solve the Problem?

Casey Township can easily put our Cemeteries on sound financial ground and we will never have to worry about them again. The Township has never asked the residents of Casey Township for a dime to maintain the cemeteries. But now the time has come when we must ask the people of the township to help us support our cemeteries. The state has given us the ability to levy a tax not to exceed .20 percent (.20%) to control, maintain, and purchase land and construction of necessary buildings for the cemeteries. As things are today future Township Boards could decide that if there is no money for the maintenance of the cemeteries then we will do nothing. This scenario does exist. If we could get this tax money for cemeteries only then could this never happen. The money collected would have to be used for cemeteries only and the Casey Township Cemeteries would be on sound financial grounds for many years to come.

The only way this can happen is with voter approval. So what will it cost the taxpayer? Very little. Casey Township needs to raise $43,000 a year to put us on sound financial grounds. To do this the township would need to levy only (.10) %. To do so if you own a home that is worth $100,000 .1% would raise your taxes by $26.50 per year. However by not having to levy that in the General Fund I could cut that in half. So I am saying that if you own a $100,000 home your taxes would raise $ 13.50 a year. To simplify that even more, for every $25,000 dollars you are assessed your tax bill would go up $3.37 a year. Quite a small investment for such a large return. This referendum will be on the ballot in the March election. I urge all voters to vote Yes in support of our cemeteries. Carl Vernon

In my next article I will talk about what happens if we do nothing.

02 / 20 Carl Vernon

*****************************************************************

Newsletter # 5

What Will Happen if We do Nothing

I will guarantee the residents of Casey Township that as long as I am Township Supervisor I will make every effort to keep the Cemeteries an asset of the Township that we will all be proud of. I believe we owe it to all those who have gone before us and to all the living relatives who has loved ones buried in our cemeteries. We owe it to the many, many veterans that have fought and died fighting for the freedom of our country. Many of them lay at rest in our cemeteries with not even a grave marker. We need to show them all the honor and respect that we possibly can.

I am confident that the current township board will make every possible effort to do this. But what would happen if the next Town Board would say, hey there is no money for cemetery maintenance and upkeep and so we will mow once a year and that’s it. The cemeteries would go down hill so fast that none of us would ever be proud of them.

I challenge every resident of Casey Township to just drive through both cemeteries and look at the amount of maintenance and upkeep it takes just to keep them looking nice. And bear in mind that we have never ever collected one penny for cemetery use. Till now we have been able to budget enough money from the general fund to keep the cemeteries looking nice. However the cost of maintenance and upkeep has risen till there just isn’t enough money there anymore.

The voters of Casey Township can solve this situation once and for all. I am going to put a referendum on the ballot in the March 20 th election that will allow Casey Township to collect a cemetery tax of .02%. The .02 % tax would allow us to collect to collect $86,000 a year but we only need half that amount, $43,000 dollars a year. To collect the $43,000 dollars that we need will cost the tax payers $3.37 cents per year for every $25,000 assessed valuation.

The money collected from this tax could be used for cemetery use only and would give the township enough money too keep the cemeteries in great shape for the next 100 years.

I’m sure many of you will have many questions. So I have planned a Town Hall meeting on March the 9 th at 6:30 pm at the Senior Center. If you can not make this meeting I will have another Town Hall meeting on March 16 th at 6:30 pm.The Cemetery Board and I will be present to answer any questions you may have.

If you can not make these meetings, or if you just have more questions, I will put on the agenda for our regular Township Board Meeting on March 13 th at 7:00 pm at the Senior Center a time that the Town Board and I will be present to answer any questions you may have.

02 / 27 Carl Vernon

************************************************************************