Tax Assessor Seeks $60,006 to Digitize Fragile Historical Tax Books

The county tax assessor appeared at the budget workshop asking commissioners to fund the digitization of decaying historical tax records stored in her office. She presented a vendor quote of $60,006.74 to scan and create a searchable digital archive of the entire collection and noted that the records date back to the early 1900s.

Why it matters: The books contain land-value records and other permanent records; their physical condition is poor and digitization would preserve the data and improve access for staff and the public.

The assessor said some counties split large projects into quarterly phases; she provided a partial quote for scanning one quarter at $22,005.69 but warned that splitting the project would not guarantee the same per-quarter price for future quarters. She said the vendor would provide both a hard copy and a digital copy and that she would store any removable media in a safe with backups on the county shared drive.

The assessor also asked for periodic courthouse security presence during tax season because lobby traffic and angry taxpayers can create safety concerns for staff. She asked commissioners to consider courthouse security patrols once or multiple times per day during high-demand periods.

No formal appropriation or vote on the digitization request was recorded during the meeting; the assessor said she would provide vendor information to county staff and follow up.

Speakers and paraphrases in this article are based on the meeting transcript and are limited to identified participants.