Beginning in December, residents will have to pay the full price to use the Vicksburg Auditorium for funeral services for a loved one.

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said at Monday’s meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen the cost of using the auditorium for funerals is returning to the full price of $475 on Dec. 1.

The board in August, with COVID-19 and the Delta variant of the disease surging in Mississippi and Warren County, approved reducing the user fee for holding funerals at the auditorium.

“I thought funeral costs are becoming a hardship for some of the families affected by COVID,” Flags said at the time. “I thought it makes sense to include everybody who wants to have a funeral.”

Built in 1956, the auditorium for the past 18 years has been a popular place for funerals when a large venue for services was needed.

According to records in the city clerk’s office, which books events at the auditorium, between Aug. 26, when the fee was reduced, and Monday, 12 families took advantage of the reduced rate to hold funerals at the auditorium.

Now, with the disease in a period of decline across the state and in the county, Flaggs said the city would resume charging the full fee for funerals at the auditorium.

“Over the past few months, the city of Vicksburg and Board of Mayor and Aldermen has offered half-price (for the auditorium) for funerals at the rate of $237.50,” Flaggs said. “However, due to the decrease of COVID-19 cases statewide and in Warren County, the rate for funerals will go back to the full price of $475 Dec. 1.”