DEPARTMENT: Office of the City Clerk
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Leticia M. Vacek, City Clerk
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
A Contract with the Department of State Health Services, Vital Statistics Unit for on-line access to Birth Records.
SUMMARY:
The Ordinance authorizes the execution of a contract with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to provide continued access to the Office of the City Clerk (OCC) to their on-line database of birth records for the term of September 1, 2018 through August 31, 2023.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Vital Records Division was transferred to the OCC on October 1, 2012. The OCC currently issues certified copies of Texas and Bexar County birth certificates to qualified applicants. The access provides the OCC the ability to print Texas Abstract birth certificates for anyone born in the State of Texas dating back to 1926.
The city pays the State a fee of $1.83 for every birth certificate printed from the State Database. The proposed contract maintains the existing $1.83 fee for the period of September 1, 2018 through August 31, 2023.
The current contract with DSHS will expire on August 31, 2018.
ISSUE:
The OCC received the proposed contract on April 16, 2018 and will operate under the current contract until August 31, 2018. With this contract in place, the OCC can continue to provide a birth record to qualified applicants that were born in Texas from 1926 to the present.
ALTERNATIVES:
No Alternatives are available since DSHS is the only entity with said database.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The OCC will continue generating revenue from the sale of Texas Abstract Birth Certificates printed from the State Database. For FY 2017, revenue generated from Texas Abstract Birth Certificates was $148,649.00 of which $11,827 was paid to the State. The total revenue generated by the Vital Records Division for FY 2017 was $1,562,958.00.
RECOMMENDATION:
The City Clerk recommends approval of the con...
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