FEDS MAY PAY FOR VETERANS CEMETERIES

The federal government could pick up the entire tab for construction of two state veterans cemeteries if legislation approved by Congress is signed by the president.

Under an existing grant mechanism, the federal government matches every dollar spent by states to build veterans cemeteries. The federal share would become 100 percent under the proposal Congress passed this year, said Ron Taylor, director of services and planning for the Missouri Veterans Commission.

"President Clinton has not signed it yet, but we've received no indication that he won't," a hopeful Taylor said.

Taylor said the federal government would rather pay to build cemeteries and then turn over control -- as well as annual operating and maintenance costs -- to the states.

"Congress is trying to get states into the cemetery business because it's cheaper for the federal government in the long run," Taylor said.

The Veterans Commission last summer authorized construction of cemeteries at Bloomfield and Jacksonville. Each carries a $5 million price tag. Yearly operational costs are estimated at $400,000 a cemetery.

The projects were approved before Congress voted to change the funding mechanism and will go forward even if the president vetoes the plan. In that scenario, the state and federal governments would split construction costs.

State veterans cemeteries under construction at Springfield and Higginsville under the existing grant program will be unaffected.

Presidential approval of the funding change, however, could be problematic.

"One catch is it will cost the federal government twice as much to fund the same number of projects, but in this year's budget they put in the same amount of money as last year," Taylor said.

The current budget sets aside about $10 million for cemetery projects.

Work on the Bloomfield and Jacksonville cemeteries is expected to begin in 2000. The commission hopes the cemeteries can begin performing burials in late 2001.

The Higginsville and Springfield facilities should become operational late next year. Construction at those sites began in October.

All four cemeteries combined will provide room for about 90,000 gravesites.

"Barring an unforeseen major war that would increase demand, I estimate we will have enough capacity to last 80 to 100 years," Taylor said.

The Bloomfield cemetery, which will serve veterans in Southeast Missouri, will be built on 65 acres of land donated to the state by the Stoddard County Commission. The land was once the home of the county's poor farm.

The site in Jacksonville, a small, Randolph County community north of Moberly, is a 76-acre parcel donated by a private company. It will serve Northeast Missouri veterans.

Missouri is home to about 569,000 veterans. The state's veteran population is declining by about 7,000 a year as the World War II and Korean War generations age.

When Missouri's system is completed, 90 percent of the state's veterans will live within 75 miles of a veterans cemetery.

No additional state cemeteries are planned, but Taylor said the commission might revisit the issue when Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis reaches capacity, which is projected to happen in 2008. When that happens the commission will consider developing a fifth state cemetery in the St. Louis metro area.

When the state cemeteries open, veterans must meet a minimal requirement of six months of residence at any time in their lives to be eligible for burial.

The state will provide gravesites, headstones, grave liners, and the cost of opening and closing the graves at no cost to eligible veterans.