Board approves certificate cost rise

YOUNGSTOWN -- The city's board of health has implemented a $3 increase in the cost of obtaining birth and death certificates, effective Friday.
The board met Wednesday to approve a $1.50 state-mandated increase. The board also approved a $1.50 increase to be put into a health district improvement budget.
The second $1.50 increase will offset the expense of the board's conversion from an all-paper record system to an electronic database record retrieval system, said Neil Altman, city health commissioner and local registrar of vital statistics.
"Ultimately, this new system will make it faster and simpler for the public to acquire a vital record," he said.
The state instituted a $5 mandated increase in 2003 to help balance the state budget.
The cost of new records, as of Friday, is $18.