Overview
- The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday delayed final approval and referred the proposed increases to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk for further review, leaving the timeline uncertain.
- The Registrar-Recorder’s Office pulled the item the day before the scheduled vote after meeting with wedding industry representatives who opposed the plan.
- The proposal would raise a standard license from $91 to $176 and a confidential license from $85 to $220, with civil ceremony fees increasing from $35 to $44 and witness fees from $20 to $26.
- Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan cited fees largely unchanged since 2009 and said about 42% of the increase reflects employee cost-of-living adjustments, with the rest tied to operational and mandated workload costs.
- Logan’s survey found regional averages near $100 for a standard license and $107 for a confidential one, with San Diego the highest and Orange County the lowest, and the changes were projected to add roughly $5.1 million in annual revenue as industry groups warned of customer flight to other jurisdictions.