Town Board OKs municipal ID card program

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. >> The Town Board has approved a municipal ID card program, following the lead of several other Mid-Hudson Valley communities.

Woodstock Human Rights Commission member Anula Courtis cheered the Tuesday night action.

“It’s phenomenal,” she said. “To me, it’s critical ... This is going to help the elderly, immigrants, those who go to hospitals. No John Does, No Jane Does. Everyone is going to have an ID on them.”

Qualifying for an ID card will require other forms of identification, as well as proof of town residency.

Those other forms of ID can be a birth certificate; U.S. or foreign passport; driver’s license or learner’s permit, with photo; military ID; national or election ID, with name, photo, date of birth and expiration date; prison or jail discharge papers, with photo; unemployment photo ID; and U.S. government or tribal-issued photo ID.

Residency confirmation could be established with a utility bill, property lease or mortgage receipt, auto insurance card, property tax statement, or income tax documentation, among other things.

Courtis said the ID card are important for people who need more than one form of identification.

“Oftentimes you need two forms of ID, and some elderly people have only one form of ID,” she said. “Some of our youth don’t have any ID.”

Human Rights Commission Vice Chairman Salvador Altamirano-Segura said the cards also will be beneficial to immigrants.

“If you’re not from this country, you’d be able to utilize identification from your country of origin [to get a municipal ID card],” he said.

Other area communities that offer such cards have said they will be provided regardless of a person’s immigration status.

The Woodstock cards will cost $10 for people 18 and older. People under 18, over 62 or who have served in the military will be charged $5.

Other Mid-Hudson communities that offer municipal ID cards include Kingston, Newburgh, Middletown, Poughkeepsie and Beacon.