The Central Otago District Council this week rejected a suggestion burial costs at those council-managed cemeteries should be charged directly to families by funeral directors.
Council parks and recreation manager Mathew Begg said under the current system, the council and community boards were sometimes subsidising the cost of burials.
The council charged the funeral director, but sometimes the fee did not cover costs.
Administration costs would be saved if the council was not the ''middleman'', he said.
At council-managed cemeteries in Ranfurly, Naseby and Omakau, the burial contractor charged the funeral director.
Trusts that managed other cemeteries in the district also dealt directly with funeral directors.
However, the council opted to stay with the status quo with several councillors expressing concern about potentially giving funeral directors the chance to set charges.
Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper and deputy mayor Neil Gillespie were both concerned funeral directors might add a ''margin'' on top of the burial cost if allowed to set the charges.
''I'm not convinced [there should be a change], looking at what we do, I can't see why we'd change things. I think we're providing a good service and if there's cost issues, we should fix those,'' Cr Gillespie said.
Mr Lepper said the ''alarm bells'' were ringing about a potential change.
''We don't want a margin put on those charges and handed on to someone else,'' he said.
Cr Clair Higginson said managing burial charges was part of the council's role. She also pointed out people organising funerals did not have to be a funeral director.
The council decided to review the burial costs to make sure the charge reflected the ''true cost'' of the service.
It will continue to sell plots in council-owned cemeteries.
The cost of plots is separate to burial charges.
