BLOOMINGTON - Funerals for the poor could be another casualty of the state budget crisis.

The Illinois Department of Human Services has informed funeral directors that the state may no longer pay for indigent funerals and burials after July 1, the start of the state fiscal year.

While some Central Illinois funeral directors said they'd continue to provide the services regardless of whether they were paid by the state or not, officials worry others will not.

McLean County Coroner Beth Kimmerling is concerned that the new policy could lead to a delay in burials, which would tax the capacity of the county morgue.

There may be up to 100 indigent burials a year in McLean County, she said, adding the morgue only has capacity to store 25 to 30 bodies.

Kimmerling said she has no money in her budget for indigent burials, but she plans to talk to county officials about the possible need to come up with money for such services.

DHS spokesman Tom Green said the state typically buries 10,000 indigents a year at a cost of up to about $15 million. The state pays up to about $1,100 for a funeral and up to about $550 per burial.

Green said funeral homes still could provide services for indigent people and apply for reimbursement, which could come in fiscal 2011, if it comes at all.

As in the case of an array of social services facing severe budget cuts, this program also could be restored, at least partially, when lawmakers return to Springfield next week to consider revising the fiscal 2010 budget they approved last month.

No matter what state officials decide, Alex Calvert, a partner in Calvert & Metzler Memorial Homes, Bloomington, said he would not turn anyone away.

Calvert said he has 20 to 25 indigent cases yearly. He said the state's current reimbursement does not cover costs and typically is paid up to a year afterward.

He said he absorbs the loss as a community service.

"The community has been so good to us, this is just a way of giving back," Calvert said.

Rob Duffy, owner of Duffy-Pils Memorial Home in Chenoa, said he also would continue handling indigent cases regardless of the status of state reimbursements.

"We only have two to three a year, so it's not a great impact on us," Duffy said.