Family wins court fight on burial fee
To the Silvas, a family of funeral directors and lawyers, the bereaved in their native Fall River were being taxed to death -- literally. The Silvas were so bothered by the city's $20 fee for a burial permit that they took the city to court and won.
Yesterday, the state Appeals Court agreed that the fee was in fact a tax, which the city has no legal right to impose without legislative approval.
"Once you die, that's it," said Martin A. Silva, embalmer and lawyer, who challenged the city's burial permit fee before the state Appeals Court. "You have to deal with the body. You can't leave it on the sidewalk."
The city initiated the fee eight years ago, charging $10 for the permit required for burial, cremation, or entombment.
This did not sit well with the Silva family, Fall River funeral directors since 1890 and lawyers since 1953, who believed the charge, which is levied in other communities, was unconstitutional. When the fee doubled in 2000, they took the city to court.
The justices ruled that the charge is a tax, and not a fee, because the permit is mandatory. The court also noted that the public benefits from the proper disposal of bodies. The justices sent the case back to Bristol Superior Court.
"If someone dies in Fall River, they have to pay the fee," said Paul F. Silva. "But if they die in Somerset, there is no fee."
