RECORDS: This one is broken

I am writing to show my frustration with the way Idaho bureaucracy works when increasing costs for public requests and how they neglect to inform citizens of those changes. I had a baby at the end of May. In the middle of June, I received a letter about the birth certificate for my baby and how to order a certified copy with a $13 cost. I will admit my error with not sending it in until August due to financial constraints with being on leave from work; however, nowhere in the letter did it advise that the cost was going up on July 1 to $16.

I wrote my check on June 20 and mailed the request around Aug. 10. They stamped my request with a date of Sept. 10 and then didn’t cash the check of $13 until Sept. 22. They sent all of my paperwork back to me with a notice that I need to pay $3 more, which I received Sept. 30.

The main issue I have with this is the lack of prior notification and the fact that they took close to two months to process my request before sending back the information for me to send back in with a second check for $3. Will I have to wait an additional two months before receiving my child’s birth certificate? Where’s all our tax dollars going to if they are this incapable?

LISA GOODSON

Coeur d’Alene