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Clarkstown town clerk highlights wedding-fee revenue, records backup and fee savings
Summary
Town Clerk Lauren Marie Wall said a newly adopted fee for officiating wedding ceremonies generated more than $35,000 in her first term, secured a state grant (about $30,000) to scan and back up 20,000+ records, and renegotiated e-check fees to eliminate a per-transaction charge starting with the 2026 tax season.
Lauren Marie Wall, sworn in as Clarkstown town clerk during the reorganization ceremony, told attendees she implemented administrative changes intended to increase revenue, improve records security, and make services more accessible.
Wall said the town board passed a resolution to permit the clerk's office to charge a fee for wedding ceremonies. "Thanks to them, I was able to perform 3 54 weddings, and this program has generated over $35,000 in my first term," she said. Wall also told the audience she secured a state grant that covered the full cost ("approximately $30,000") of scanning and backing up more than 20,000 records that had not been backed up since 2008.
Wall described other service changes: reinstating notary services, offering in-home visits for elderly residents, extending office hours on meeting nights and during tax season, and implementing a FOIL (freedom of information law) tracking portal in cooperation with IT and the police department to improve response accuracy.
On finances, Wall said she renegotiated the town's e-check contract in 2024 from a fee of $0.95 per transaction down to $0.50, and said the town will eliminate the fee for combined tax seasons starting in 2026, saving the town "between $7 to $10,000 a year".
Why it matters: The clerk's office handles records, FOIL requests and tax receipts; Wall framed the changes as both customer-service improvements and modest revenue sources for the town.
The claims and figures Wall offered about the number of ceremonies performed and dollar amounts are drawn from her remarks; some transcript passages were unclear in places and those numbers should be confirmed with the clerk's office for reporting precision.
