Massachusetts § 15 - Appropriation for enclosing and improving public cemetery; sale or conveyance of burial rights; disposition of proceeds

§ 15. Appropriation for enclosing and improving public cemetery; sale or conveyance of burial rights; disposition of proceeds

Section 15. Towns may appropriate money for enclosing any cemetery lawfully provided by them or for constructing paths and avenues and embellishing the grounds therein, and may establish all necessary rules relative thereto consistent with law. They may lay out such cemetery into lots, and shall set apart a suitable portion as a public burial place for the use of the inhabitants, free of charge. They may sell and convey to any person, resident or non-resident, the exclusive right of burial and of erecting tombs and cenotaphs upon any lot and of ornamenting the same, upon such terms and conditions and subject to such regulations as they shall prescribe. Upon the conveyance of a burial lot, a town: (1) shall assign a number to such lot; (2) shall cause a marker to be installed thereon which indicates such number; (3) shall give a written notification to the purchaser of such lot, or his agent, which notification specifies the location and number of such lot; and (4) may charge the purchaser of such lot a reasonable fee for the cost of such marker and its installation. Towns shall maintain records concerning the location and numbering of such lots, which records shall be open to the public. The proceeds of such sales shall be paid into the town treasuries, be kept separate from other funds, and be appropriated to reimburse the towns for the cost of the land, its care, improvement and embellishment, or the enlargement of the cemetery.