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Register of Deeds proposes updated fee schedule; committee recommends resolution to board
Summary
Barry County Register of Deeds Ali Reed asked the committee to recommend a resolution updating the office fee schedule — raising notary fees, renewing a $1-per-minute track search fee and changing remote-search subscription splits with vendor Fiddler/Laredo; committee recommended adoption to the Board of Commissioners.
Barry County Register of Deeds Ali Reed presented a proposed update to her office's fee schedule at the April 15 Committee of the Whole and asked the committee to recommend a resolution to the Board of Commissioners. The committee approved the recommendation to adopt the resolution; the change is slated to take effect June 1, 2025, pending Board action.
Why it matters: Most recording and copy fees are set by state statute, but the county controls a handful of fees. Reed said the proposed changes will roughly align Barry County with other Michigan counties that use the Laredo (Fiddler Technologies) remote-search platform and help cover rising vendor fees.
Details Reed provided:
- Track search fee: the office will continue charging $1 per minute for searches by legal description or parcel number, which Reed said is standard across the state. "The first one I'm looking to update is really just a renewal of our track search fees. It's at the standard dollar a minute fee," Reed said.
- Notary fee: proposed increase from $5 to $10 (to align with the county clerk's earlier change).
- Laredo (Fiddler Technologies) subscriptions: since 2021 the county has expanded the indexed records available (from the 1940s back into the 1870s, adding roughly 300,000 documents). Reed said Fiddler is increasing the vendor portion of subscription revenue; her proposal sets county revenue at $30 per subscription per month regardless of the minutes tier so the county's take will be consistent as vendor pricing changes.
Reed said the grant-driven and software costs are factors in the proposed structure and that Barry County currently has about 18 subscriptions; the office expects subscription counts to vary with housing market activity. After Reed's presentation the committee voted to recommend adoption of Resolution 25-15 to the full Board of Commissioners.
Next steps: The committee's recommendation will be placed on the Board agenda; the effective date stated in the packet is June 1, 2025.
