Kent County residents may soon pay more to hear their wedding bells chime, if Levy Court approves a new schedule of fees for county marriage licenses and ceremonies.
At its committee meeting June 7, Levy Court considered a plan submitted by Clerk of the Peace Loretta Wootten to increase marriage license fees across the board, which would raise an additional $38,000 for the county.
Wootten said the fees haven’t been raised since the mid-1990s and that the increases would make the county’s fees comparable to those in New Castle and Sussex counties.
Commissioner Eric Buckson agrees the county should charge for services to cover their costs, but he’s sometimes reluctant to raise fees just to make more money.
“If it’s a service, it should be paid for,” he said. “I’m not a big fan of raising it because everyone else is, but in this case it clearly makes sense.”
Under Wootten’s proposal, which Levy Court commissioners voted unanimously to release from committee, the marriage license fee for a county resident would jump from $30 to $50 and the fee for a ceremony performed by the clerk would increase from $20 to $50. Non-residents, who currently pay the same fees as residents, would be charged $75 for those services.
The plan also adds a $25-per-month marriage license extension fee, which couples can take advantage of for up to six months after the issuance of their original license. Marriage licenses are valid for 30 days.
Wootten said couples that obtain marriage licenses usually utilize them within 30 days, but sometimes extenuating circumstances can force them to delay their union. The new extension fee saves them from having to pay for a new license.
“Once in a while we have somebody who runs out of time and they just have to come in and get another license,” she said.
The only marriage-related fee not increased on the new schedule is a $25 charge for a certified copy of a marriage license. Of that fee, $15 kicks directly to the state for domestic violence programs.
Wootten said that printing a new copy of a certificate does not cost the county that much at all and the remaining $10 of the fee is used to cover staff time spent keeping track of the state portion of the money.
After the next Levy Court meeting, the proposal will be advertised to the public for 10 days, after which the panel will convene a public hearing on the matter and take a final vote.
The earliest the new fees could take effect would be mid-August, Wootten said.
Wootten also brought the commissioners up to speed on a proposal that would allow her office to charge a fee to clergy and other individuals who wish to perform marriages in the county.
The $25 registration fee and $50 annual renewal fee would bring in approximately $70,000 a year to pay for the county to create and maintain a public online database containing the names of those authorized to perform marriages.
However, Wootten said the ability to levy such fees first must be approved by the state legislature, which has yet to take action on the issue.
Kent County —
