Ass seen on Change.org by Alan Katz
The Issue
Petition to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors: Reconsider and Repeal the Recent Marriage License Fee Increase
To the Honorable Members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors:
We, the undersigned residents and concerned stakeholders of Los Angeles County, hereby petition your honorable board to urgently reconsider and repeal the recent decision to raise marriage license fees, including the cost of confidential marriage licenses, by more than double the previous fees.
The recent fee increase, which raises the standard marriage license from $91 to $176 and the confidential marriage license from $85 to $220, constitutes an unlawful and excessive hike in violation of the clear statutory fee caps established by the California Government Code Sections 26840 et seq. These sections limit how much counties may increase marriage license fees, allowing only modest, specific, and capped increases—certainly not an increase of over 90% or more than double the prior amounts.
Moreover, this price hike will cause undue and substantial harm to the residents of Los Angeles County. It places a prohibitive financial burden on couples seeking to marry, forcing many to consider traveling to neighboring counties with significantly lower fees. This shift threatens to reduce local marriage ceremonies, harming small businesses and wedding chapels across the county, including those that perform confidential marriages vital for privacy and vulnerable populations.
The wedding industry forms an essential part of our economy and community fabric. This fee increase threatens the viability of many local wedding chapels, including small operators such as the Cute Little Wedding Chapel in Long Beach, which have publicly voiced concerns about the decision’s catastrophic impact. Higher fees also disproportionately affect less affluent residents and newlyweds, creating barriers to marriage that should not exist in a state committed to fairness and equity.
We ask the Board to:
1.Immediately review the fee increase within the context of California law and statutory fee caps.
2. Engage with community stakeholders, including local wedding business owners and advocacy groups, to assess the broader social and economic impacts.
3. Repeal or significantly reduce the fee increase to levels consistent with legal authority and local affordability.
4. Ensure future fee adjustments comply strictly with the statutory limits and include transparent cost-recovery justifications.
The undersigned believe that marriage should remain accessible to all residents of Los Angeles County without excessive economic barriers. We urge the Board to take swift action to correct this unlawful fee increase and protect the interests of our community and local businesses.