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Houston's Burial Cost Westfield Taxpayers $9,000

Late pop singer Whitney Houston's funeral service and burial at Fairview Cemetery cost NJ taxpayers nearly $199,000 in police overtime, according to reports.

 

Whitney Houston's Feb. 19 burial at Fairview Cemetery cost Westfield taxpayers $9,000, The Star Ledger reported Friday morning

"That was to, primarily, maintain traffic flow and safety on and along the roads," Mayor Andy Skibitsky told the Ledger. "And I know Fairview Cemetery incurred significantly more than that in expenses to provide security at the cemetery."

Following Houston's burial, the private 105-acre cemetery employed off-duty police officers to ensure that only those with loved ones buried on the property were admitted. 

The Newark Police Department spent $187,621 in overtime costs for personnel staffing the funeral of Houston, whose star-studded memorial service in February drew a horde of media from around the globe to the city. 

The information on police overtime was obtained under a public records request. The Newark Police Department did not immediately respond to additional requests for information last week. 

Police officers were stationed at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark within hours of the singer’s passing Feb. 11 in Beverly Hills. Newark police were also on hand the following day, when normal Sunday services were dedicated to Houston's memory and reporters gathered at the church to interview congregants.

The Essex County Sheriff’s Office spent close to $2,000 in overtime, according to Sheriff Armando Fontoura, who told the Ledger that he used members of his "volunteer deputy division" to stave off manpower costs. The only officers who required overtime were the K-9 and Bomb Squad units who checked the church in the hours before the funeral began.

The 48-year-old singer, who was found dead in the bathroom of her Beverly Hills hotel room on Feb. 11, was buried next to her father, John Houston. 

Related Topics: Mayor Andy Skibitsky, Westfield Police Department, and Whitney Houston's burial

JERSEY GIRL

12:12 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012

$9000.00 to taxpayers and the hassle of now trying to visit your loved ones at the Cemetary.(back gate locked)

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KWC

1:54 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012

Yes, you often pay for things you don't benefit from, and you often receive the benefits of things you don't pay for. It's called civilization. It's not novel.

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Julia G

6:04 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012

so what are the benefits of a drug addict's death?

madamson

3:29 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012

There is no need for any kind of police presence there. She is no more special than anyone else in that cemetary. Let her family pay for everything. From the funeral down to all of the costs for the police and OT costs. Her mother claims that WH was not broke when she died and her daughter supposedly stands to inherit a sizeable estate by the time she is 30 .... let them take care of everything. After all, everyone else does that when their loved one passes away.

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Julia G

6:03 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012

Totally agree. She was no more special than anyone else, and the taxpayers from Westfield have to pay for the funeral of a women who killed herself. For those who disagree about her death being a suicide, she chose to take drugs. If I lived in Westfield, I would sue her family-they are the ones who should have to pay for her funeral: not the hard-working citizens of Westfield.

Truth Hurts

4:32 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012

what are you going to do about it?

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NR9

6:21 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012

KWC makes a good point above. And, to put the dollar amount into perspective... $9,000 cost to Westfield divided by 10,000 households in Westfield = cost of about 90-cents per household. Consider this cost per household, along with KWC's point above, and this issue really should be considered a non-issue.

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Pete

7:36 am on Saturday, April 7, 2012

90c here, $1 there and voila, here's your 5 figure tax bill.

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Julia G

7:45 am on Saturday, April 7, 2012

Maybe you have the money to pay for it, but others don't. Hey, let's make all burials payed for by tax dollars, even if they are bathing in money!!!! In order to be fair to everyone, that is what we would have to do!!! So count that money up. Lets use aprox. 100 burials. $9000x100burials/10000 hard-working taxpayers=$90 each. Yah sure. So fair and it doesnt cost anything.

Jeff B

8:54 am on Saturday, April 7, 2012

The $9,000 spent by the town isn't as significant as that "Fairview Cemetery incurred significantly more than that in expenses to provide security at the cemetery." I am personally aware that police were still there on March 24. This has to have put a big hole in their budget. The already very substantial one-time fees to purchase a gravesite and then open and close (and maintain) it after a person passes away may go up a non-trivial amount, as those fees seem to be Fairview's principal source of revenue to pay expenses from.

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Rusty Cut

9:14 am on Saturday, April 7, 2012

Surprisingly not all that much. Good news.

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JERSEY GIRL

10:39 am on Monday, April 9, 2012

What are they building at Fariview in the location of her grave?? Does anyone have any info? Looks like they are building a bldg of her grave......

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