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SCHENECTADY
City adds rush fee for birth records
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.

    Want a birth certificate this minute? You’ll have to pay more for it at Schenectady City Hall.
    But those who are willing to wait two weeks will get their certifi cates in the mail without paying extra.
    The priority fee will be $20; records that can be mailed to the applicant will cost $10.
    With layoffs and vacancies left unfilled, City Hall workers are asked to do more. The change will allow a counter clerk at the city clerk’s office to more effi ciently search for records, while leaving the counter immediately for only those records that are needed right now.
    The clerk must usually search the vault for the correct records and then print out new copies. It’s far more efficient to search for a dozen records than to walk back and forth all day, the city says.
    “They fill out the form, then when staff are available, they mail them all out,” City Clerk Charles Thorne said. “It would free people up. My deputy registrar, most of her day is birth and death certifi - cates. There’s less manual labor to doing them in bulk.”
    But, he said, many residents want their records immediately. Generally they tell him they need a birth certificate to get a license or passport, he said, and they want to finish their application s soon as possible.
    He estimated that 60 percent of the customers would want to pay the extra $10 to get their records at once.
    That would translate to about $120,000 in additional revenue for the city, he said.
    Although birth certifi cates are the most popular record, the clerk can also provide legal copies of death and marriage certifi cates.
    Those doing genealogical research can also purchase certifi - cates dating back to 1882 for $22. Before a birth certificate can be purchased by someone other than a direct relative, the record must have been on file for at least 75 years and the person listed in the record must be deceased. An obituary can be used to prove the person has died. ..........................>>>>..........................>>>>...............................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r02000&AppName=1

More fees, thank you sir may I have another.

It is a DEM SCAM to get money.

There is NO NEED WHATSOEVER to "search" this stuff.   It is INSTANEOUS on a computer.   Oh, wait, the city hasn't computerized?   They have been using the taxpayers' money to pay the lavish salary for Proctors CEO and for all the other NON-ESSENTIALS downtown and exemptions for their political cronies.

So when someone dies, and a family member needs the birth certificate immediately for something, the city is going to "use" the death to BLEED THE SURIVIVORS dry!   Oh, the expense can be part of the deceased's estate?   That means the city is stealing from the dead as well.

Heck, you can go on line and get records like these instanteously for a lower fee in many locations.

More THEFT from the taxpayers of the city

what???.....MANUAL LABOR???

So that means that waling back and forth is demeaning??.......sitting down and mailing in bulk is the answer???

What logic....how intelligent was that statement from the new City Clerk.....maybe he needs more exercise.....he seems bulked up....

More incompetence from the powers that be! This is getting to be a broken record but.....they don't know how to cut spending....they just continue to hike taxes and fees!!!

There is no solution to this in schenectady county.....except.....stop complaining and move out....if you can that is!

It's not like taxes are low, or that the school is great, or that crime is low, or that the infrastructure is sound....there is NOTHING worth the taxes and fees to keep anyone in the city.....except.....welfare or your just can't sell your home due to high taxes and devalue of your property!

And we know folks who work there........they report that it's s-l-o-w in that office. But hey.....someone's gotta pay their lucrative benefit package.....yes?

I am sure Obama would have given anything to get his, if he had one

the 'rush fee' is for the run on the realID, show me your papers to vote/eat/get healthcare/drive/breathe/drink etc etc.....

and we're all lined up to pay for our own shackles....

it's a link in the chain folks

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New fee for vital records looms
Schenectady hopes to raise $50,000 with $10 surcharge on death, birth certificates
By Lauren Stanforth
Published 10:29 p.m., Sunday, October 14, 2012
  

SCHENECTADY — The city is trying to skirt around the state's mandated maximum vital records fee by creating a new category of its own — priority fees — in order to generate much-needed revenue for 2013.

Under the proposal, if a city resident wants a birth or death certificate on the spot, they would have to pay a total of $20 — $10 for the new priority fee and the usual $10 fee for a certified copy. Otherwise, it would be $10 for a copy that could take one to two weeks. The state mandates that a copy of a vital record cannot cost more than $10.

In creating a "priority fee," Schenectady would be finding a way around the maximum $10 state fee, which can only be changed by the state Legislature. Many municipalities, including Albany and Amsterdam, have requested special home rule legislation to increase the base fee to up to $30 in order to find needed revenue. But in this time of belt-tightening, there appears to be no political support for it among state leaders.

Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy's proposed spending plan for next year assumes such a priority fee would generate $50,000, in addition to the base $100,000 brought in from birth and death certificate requests.

But during a public hearing at City Hall on the new fee last week, three funeral directors said death certificates are almost always needed immediately for insurance or banking purposes, so the fee will double the cost.

Bob Barbieri, president of the Capital District Funeral Directors Association, said the move would actually cut down the number of death certificates families would request, as many now order extra in case they need them.

"Our counseling going forward will be 'Don't get six, save yourself the $50 or $60,'" Barbieri said at the city's public hearing.

City Councilwoman Leesa Perazzo said the city must come up with new revenue streams. Also, "I'm sure in the last 10 years funeral directors have had to raise the cost of their services in other areas," she said.

But City Councilman Carl Erikson said he will propose a priority fee be charged only on the first copy of a death certificate, not subsequent copies if the person needs them......................>>>>.....................>>>>.............Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/New-fee-for-vital-records-looms-3948262.php#ixzz29MbP6UWH

The city should not be in the business of making profit.   The core question is how much time and money does it cost to create one of these certificatates from personell to paper, ink and fixed costs.  If its less than $10 then it stays at $10 or is lowered.  You can't just pull a number out of a hat and say it needs to be raised because of what it cost 10 or 20 years ago.  

Quoted Text

If you have to push 'print' six times," Erikson said about making multiple certificate copies, "big deal."

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/New-fee-for-vital-records-looms-3948262.php#ixzz29N6JjKIH

Ya gotta love it!!! Not to mention that the folks in that office are sitting around most of the time.....they'll even tell ya that!

EVERYBODY............rush the office and git as many documents as you can before this money grab fee takes effect!!

Quoted from TakingItBack

   ...The core question is how much time and money does it cost to create one of these certificatates from personell to paper, ink and fixed costs.  If its less than $10 then it stays at $10 or is lowered.  ...  

I can put a $20 ink cartridge into my little printer and get hundreds, probably well over 1,000 pages printed, but at $20 for 1,000 pages the cost is a mere twenty cents, $.20 per page.

Buy a package of paper, 500 sheets, I never pay more than $2.50, so $5.00 for 1,000 sheets of paper which is less than one penny per page, i.e., $0.005.

How long does it take to type a name and date of birth into a search field of a database?    Try it with a stop watch.   Type your own name and date of birth.   Then LOOK at the stop watch, taking the time to reach for and pick up the stop watch adds seconds.   Just set the stop watch or any clock with a second hand in front of you.    Most likely you'll see that it takes less than 15 seconds.   Then imagine hitting the Enter button to select the name, birth certificate appears on the computer, then usually press Ctrl+P, how long does that take, 5 seconds maybe?  Get up from chair, walk 10 feet maybe to the printer and take paper out.  Stick paper in that contraption that does the raised seal, maybe another five seconds of staff time.  

A lowly clerical worker doing such task typically would be paid $30,000 a year plus the value of benefits (health insurance is probably $15,000 a year for family coverage, and I'll throw in an additional $5,000 for lavish retirement, all the time off, sick pay payout so we'll say the lowly clerk costs $50,000 a year.  $50,000 would be just under $962 per week, which is $24.00 per hour or $0.40, 40 cents per minute.  So MAYBE a half minute worth of "manhours" (sorry not to be politically correct), which is 20 cents worth of time.

Capital costs, even at five birth certificate requests per day times roughly 250 work days a year, come on, it's not going to cause that much wear and tear on a printer!   And really, how many kilowatts of electricity are needed for printing 5 sheets of paper, or the 10 seconds of use of a computer.

Shame on the city

the questions are:

How much of a raise for Upchuck Thorne and his wife Madelyn who is running against Farley?

Someone needs to do the homework. They are giving them raises on the backs of the grieving widows and families.

Quoted from mikechristine1

I can put a $20 ink cartridge into my little printer and get hundreds, probably well over 1,000 pages printed, but at $20 for 1,000 pages the cost is a mere twenty cents, $.20 per page.

Buy a package of paper, 500 sheets, I never pay more than $2.50, so $5.00 for 1,000 sheets of paper which is less than one penny per page, i.e., $0.005.

How long does it take to type a name and date of birth into a search field of a database?    Try it with a stop watch.   Type your own name and date of birth.   Then LOOK at the stop watch, taking the time to reach for and pick up the stop watch adds seconds.   Just set the stop watch or any clock with a second hand in front of you.    Most likely you'll see that it takes less than 15 seconds.   Then imagine hitting the Enter button to select the name, birth certificate appears on the computer, then usually press Ctrl+P, how long does that take, 5 seconds maybe?  Get up from chair, walk 10 feet maybe to the printer and take paper out.  Stick paper in that contraption that does the raised seal, maybe another five seconds of staff time.  

A lowly clerical worker doing such task typically would be paid $30,000 a year plus the value of benefits (health insurance is probably $15,000 a year for family coverage, and I'll throw in an additional $5,000 for lavish retirement, all the time off, sick pay payout so we'll say the lowly clerk costs $50,000 a year.  $50,000 would be just under $962 per week, which is $24.00 per hour or $0.40, 40 cents per minute.  So MAYBE a half minute worth of "manhours" (sorry not to be politically correct), which is 20 cents worth of time.

Capital costs, even at five birth certificate requests per day times roughly 250 work days a year, come on, it's not going to cause that much wear and tear on a printer!   And really, how many kilowatts of electricity are needed for printing 5 sheets of paper, or the 10 seconds of use of a computer.

Shame on the city

I agree with you entirely and that is my point.  Isnt there a law against this type of thing.  Matching if Income and Expense.  
Besides, is the city the only source for the death reacord.  Cant the county and other online services also provide it?

Quoted from TakingItBack

I agree with you entirely and that is my point.  Isnt there a law against this type of thing.  Matching if Income and Expense.  
Besides, is the city the only source for the death reacord.  Cant the county and other online services also provide it?

The city needs to give pay off their dem cronies so tax people at birth and death. and of course the marriage penalty