COLDATER, MI (WTVB) – How many people died and were born last year in Branch County and how about the number of marriages and divorces? The Vital Records report for 2014 has been issued and you might be surprised by how much money the county clerk’s office takes in for copies of the records. Those copies and application fees generate nearly $50,000. That can help offset the cost of elections which come under the direction of County Clerk Terry Kubasiak and her office staff and there were three elections last year.
2014 was a gubernatorial election year, so the county was responsible to pay for supplies and ballots for the August primary and November general elections. The total cost for those two elections was nearly $62,000.
There were 363 deaths last year in Branch County, 59 fewer than in 2013, which had the highest total of deaths since 2010. Births were up, at 345 in 2014, compared to 324 the year before. The number of marriages went down, from 285 in 2013 to 265 last year but divorces went up from 164 to 178.
The county clerk is also the clerk of the Branch County Gun Board, which meets once a month to review and approve carry a concealed weapon, or CCW applications. Last year, the Clerk’s office processed 533 applications which is down nearly 250 from the high water mark in 2013 of 778.
