YOUNGSTOWN Board raises fees for copies of birth, death certificates

YOUNGSTOWN -- The city health board has raised the cost of obtaining birth and death certificates from $10 to $15 each.
Neil Altman, city health commissioner, said the new fee, required by the Ohio Department of Health, goes into effect Aug. 15, and the entire $5 increase will go to the state.
He added that the ODH will no longer permit the city health department to provide noncertified copies of birth and death records, which it now sells for 25 cents.
At the health board meeting Monday, Altman said he plans to ask the city for money to convert the department's estimated one million birth and death records from paper to electronic files.
If money is not available from the city, Altman said it may be necessary to raise the birth- and death-record fees to $20 and put aside the extra $5 for record conversion. At the current rate of $10 per record, Altman estimated annual revenue for the city's general fund is $400,000.
Youngstown lawyer Michelle Wrona, associated with Northeast Ohio Legal Services, attended her first meeting. Mayor George McKelvey appointed her to the board for a five-year term.
The board also renewed the contract of Dr. David Davis as its medical director. The pay, $10,000 per year, remained the same, Altman said.