Until recently, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell used to charge couples $100 for Town Hall weddings, and he’d specify that they make the checks out to one of three charities.
Now, all that has changed.
In February, the state’s Division of Local Government Services sent down an order effective April 1 that “any fee collected by a mayor or designee, as authorized by statute, for the performance of a marriage or civil union ceremony must be authorized by ordinance and deposited into the municipal current fund.”
This came after a Jersey City deputy mayor was caught allegedly accepting a $50 fee even though he wasn’t authorized to do so – and it has had interesting results across the county.
“I’m happy to do weddings, but I’m not happy that those charities will be losing money,” Elwell said recently. Elwell said he considered an ordinance that would codify the amount the town of Secaucus would receive, but decided not to introduce it to the council to be approved. According to the state law, mayors can recommend charities that the money go to, but they cannot mandate that people pay or give them a certain amount to donate to charity, like Elwell used to do.
Now Secaucus does marriage ceremonies for both residents and those persons from out-of-town for free, but it’s by appointment only.
“I was trying to figure out what are my expenses and what’s my time worth,” Elwell said. “There’s so much paperwork that would have to be done, and it’s a lot of work.”
Rush from New York
The changes caused by the April 1 order may make it harder for some couples to find a place to get married, putting the strain on the towns that allow out-of-towners. Already, towns near New York City like Jersey City have been flooded with same-sex couples who want a civil union in New Jersey and can’t get one in New York.
But the laws also make it harder for the funds to be misused or for individual mayors to profit. Earlier this year, Jersey City’s deputy mayor, Ador Equipado, was forced to step down because he was accused of trying to sell phone service to a couple for whom he performed a ceremony in October. He also allegedly solicited $50 for them, even though at the time, deputy mayors weren’t supposed to accept any payments for performing weddings.
Equipado was arrested in February and charged with official misconduct, a third-degree felony. His case is currently being handled by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
This ruling stopped at least one Hudson County mayor from collecting personal funds for weddings, and changed how several others now go about it.
In Jersey City, the City Council at its April 25 meeting approved an ordinance that set a $52 fee for residents (heterosexual or same-sex) who want to get married in a civil ceremony, and a $72 fee for out-of-towners. The money goes to the city’s general fund.
The other two Hudson County municipalities that charge for wedding ceremonies are North Bergen and Union City. Hoboken, Weehawken, West New York, Secaucus, and Bayonne do not charge, but some only perform the ceremonies for their own residents.
Until recently, North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco performed weddings in his town and was able to personally collect $50 per wedding.
Sacco collected approximately $14,000 last year, according to a March 25 article in The North Bergen Reporter. But after the ruling from the state’s Division of Local Government Services, the Township Council introduced an ordinance two months ago to start giving the fees to the town budget rather than to Sacco – and to give Sacco a salary increase from $15,000 to $25,000 to make up for it.
In the end, Sacco decided to forgo the salary increase and go ahead with having the fees go to the township. Union City Mayor Brian Stack charges $75 for civil ceremonies, but where is the money going? His spokesperson, Wendy Martinez, said she would get back with an answer from Stack, but no answer was forthcoming by press time.
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy explained the reason for the fees charged by the cities. He said that they help defray the expense and the time incurred by the city clerk and the various officials who perform the wedding ceremonies.
“There’s a lot of time I spend, the deputy mayor spends, the judges spend performing the ceremonies…you should come here on Fridays and Saturdays,” Healy said. “The city clerk also does a lot of preparation work.” He also noted that Jersey City gets only three dollars of the $28 standard fee that couples pay for a marriage license.
“If you don’t have $80 or $100 to pay for the licensing fee or ceremonial process, then maybe you shouldn’t be getting married,” Healy said. “Everything has a price tag.”
One couple who recently got married in Jersey City, 25-year-old Shaun Masterson and his 19-year-old bride Elisa Flores, said they ended up there because they wanted to avoid a two-month waiting list in Kearny and long waits in other towns.
“It would have made no difference to us if there was a charge or not,” Masterson said. “We just wanted to get married as soon as possible.”
Weddings for free
Hoboken spokesperson Bill Campbell commented that Mayor David Roberts doesn’t need the money, and so Roberts has never charged for weddings.
Campbell noted that Roberts also waived his mayoral salary, which he donates for affordable housing. Hoboken performs weddings only for its own residents in this city of more than 40,000 people.
“Mayor Roberts has always been happy to do these weddings, for which he has never charged since he got into office in 2001,” Campbell said.
Janet Passante, Chief of Staff for West New York Mayor Sal Vega, said recently that since Vega assumed the mayor’s office in November, he has never thought about charging for wedding ceremonies.
“He feels like it’s a public service that he is more than happy to do,” Passante said.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com
How many weddings, and how much?
Below are fees charged for local towns for performing wedding ceremonies; the number of weddings they have performed in Town Hall since Jan. 1 of this year, and the officials who perform the ceremonies.
Bayonne – Free; 79; Mayor Joseph Doria and municipal court judges
Jersey City – $52 for city residents, $72 for out-of-town residents; 454; Mayor Healy, Rev. David Hoffman, Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, and municipal court judges
Hoboken – Free; Residents only; 20; Mayor David Roberts and municipal court judges
North Bergen – $50; 145; Mayor Nicholas Sacco and municipal court judges
Secaucus – Free; 22; Mayor Elwell and municipal court judges
Union City -$75; Information not provided before article went to press; Mayor Brian Stack and municipal court judges
West New York – Free; 106; Mayor Sal Vega and municipal court judges
Weehawken – Free; 14; Mayor Richard Turner and one municipal court judge
-RK