According to Town Administrator Michael Peoples, no funds have been expended from the initial funds raised.

In 1999, Peoples said the funds were raised through the mayoral-appointed Community Appearance Board which interested a public-private partnership agreement for four years. The agreement was renewed in 2003 for a five-year period.

The objective of the proposal was “to secure a Cemetery Trust Fund over the next five years capable of paying for all upkeep of the cemetery indefinitely.”

The first step of the proposal was to secure pledge commitments from private donors in the amount of $40,000, according to the agreement. Once that money was secured, the town agreed to match a $40,000 contribution over the next five years. The town will provide 20 percent, or $8,000, of its match by agreeing to continue mowing and trimming the cemetery over the same five-year period.

Over the five-year period, if the $10,000 in private money is received each year as scheduled, the town will make a cash match of $8,000.

In 2008, the Cemetery Trust Management Committee, composed of three members, will make the decisions on how the interest received will be spent, Peoples said. The interest, by that date, if all contributions are realized, is expected to be around $72,000.

The Cemetery Trust Management committee is composed of a Town of Grifton Commissioner as well as two concerned citizens appointed by the board.

The first act the committee will be expected to make is to request that all further Cemetery maintenance and improvements be paid for out of the $72,000 of interest earned. 

The town maintains accounting over the funds, according to Peoples, however, the money raised cannot be spent on any non-cemetery purposes because there of the established trust fund set up for the cemetery.

The $18, 406.38 balance is of December 31, 2003, Peoples noted.

There are currently no lots in the cemetery to sell and according to Peoples, the town is not actively seeking to expand the cemetery. However, once a lot is sold, the person who purchased the lot is not allowed to convey the lot to any other person unless he or she has written permission from the Board of Commissioners.

The last lots purchased, he said, which were large enough to bury four people, were sold for $200 for in-town citizens and $400 for out-of town residents.

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