FAIRBANKS -- The Internal Revenue Service has put an end to an arrangement in which Fairbanks paid a local man to maintain a city cemetery.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner says the IRS conducted an independent audit of the city's vendors and found Frank Turney does not meet the criteria for being an independent contractor.

The IRS determined that the city had behavioral control over Turney and therefore he is an employee. As such, he would have to join a union as a temporary employee -- something Turney says he won't do.

The Clay Street Cemetery was established in 1903 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Maintenance of the cemetery will now be done by the city's Department of Public Works.