Perpetual care is money paid to help provide maintenance to graves and cemeteries, such as lawnmowing and fertilizing. Perpetual care is kept in its own account, and the money paid by the individual(s) purchasing a lot is deposited into that account. Only the interest, and not the principal, of the perpetual care account may be expended for care of cemeteries.
In those cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the Cemetery Board, two principal trust funds exist: the perpetual care fund and the permanent maintenance fund. The perpetual care fund consists of individual and varied amounts of contributions by lot owners. The permanent maintenance fund is funded with a portion of current lot sale receipts and $35 from every interment.
The important distinction between these two funds is that perpetual care funds are used for the care of individual graves, plots, mausoleums, or columbarium spaces; while permanent maintenance funds are for cemetery care overall. Only the interest from these funds can be used for maintenance; the principal must remain intact.