1998-12-14 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of City Council

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REoAT FOR Cl'fY COUNCIL AGENDA L Agenda Date Requested: December 14. 1998 NjJ Requested By: M. GiUett'-"" De~artment: Administration/City SecretaJy's Office _ Report X Resolution Ordinance Exhibits: Original Adopting Ordinance 734 Local Registrar Checklist Local Registrar Letter Resolution Harris County Locations Listing In October, 1997 the Texas Department of Health conducted an audit of the City of La Porte's vital statistics records and procedures. It was recommended at that time that the City of La Porte consolidate with Harris County due to a low volume of record filings. The State has been conducting a statewide audit in an effort to consolidate some of the smaller sites with larger entities. The State is currently servicing an excessive amount of agencies and is having difficulty providing adequate services. I previously received a letter from the Texas Department of Health, further clarifYing the need for the City of La Porte to consolidate with Harris County. The audit reflected several areas of needs improvement for handling vital records. This is not surprising since the City staff has never attended a vitals records training conference. The training time and expense would be difficult to manage with limited staff who are responsible for covering multiple areas of the City Secretary's Office. I have been in contact with Harris County and they agree this function needs to be handled by them. They recommended we wait until lanlW)' 1, 1999 for the change to become effective. Vital records are only one minor function the City Secretary's Office handles. Although we don't process a large volume, the technical knowledge must be maintained at the same level as the County. The number of deaths processed each year averages less than 50 per year and births are less than five per year. The amount of time spent in training, supplies, long distance phone calls, etc. presents a burden to the City for such a low volume of filings each year. If the vital function is transferred to Harris County, the attached list outlines several locations these services could be handled by. SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends transferring this service to the County as recommended by the State of Texas Department of Health. Action Required by CouncD: Adopt the 10int Resolution ordering the transfer of duties of the City of La Porte relating to the maintenance of birth and death records to the County Clerk of Harris County.