California might already be the worst state for online dating, but our woes won’t end with marriage… Getting married is about to get a bit more expensive for Angelenos.
On September 16, L.A.’s Board of Supervisors voted to increase the cost of marriage licenses, civil wedding ceremonies, and ceremony witness services for newlyweds.
According to KTLA, marriage license fees will increase from $91 to $176, confidential marriage license fees will increase from $85 to $220, the marriage ceremony fee will increase from $35 to $44, and the marriage ceremony witness fee will increase from $20 to $26.
The total will go from $231 to $466, more than doubling the legal cost.
Why is the cost going up?
County Clerk Dean Logan stated that current fees “no longer reflect the actual costs to the RR/CC to perform these services and do not take into account inflationary factors or mandated minimum wage increases.”
In a letter to the board members, Logan wrote that “the proposed fee increase is significant as approximately 42% of this increase is attributed to cost-of-living adjustments for L.A. County employees since 2009, with the remainder reflecting several operational enhancements and mandated changes that have significantly impacted workload and administrative costs.”
The price increases will bring in about $5.1 million of additional revenue to the Registrar-Recorder and County Clerk offices.
When was the last time the prices were raised?
L.A. County’s marriage license fees have remained the same since 2009, and the state added a $1 increase in 2014. Marriage ceremony and witness fees haven’t been raised since 2015.
When will the new fees begin?
The price increases will take effect on October 17.