Clerk proposes Debtbook, ClearGov and property‑fraud alerts as one‑time tech enhancements

County clerk staff presented a group of one‑time and recurring requests aimed at improving financial reporting, public access to budget data and recording‑office customer services. The clerk’s office proposed purchasing Debtbook to meet Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) reporting requirements for subscriptions and leases, ClearGov to publish a Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)‑recommended interactive budget book, and a fraud‑alert recording service to notify property owners when documents are recorded against their parcels.

On Debtbook, a clerk’s office staffer said they lack software to track subscriptions, leases and other items required under GASB and that the county “does not have the ability right now to properly report it because I don't have the software to track it.” Commissioners asked for a demonstration and whether Debtbook could be used as a broader contract/expiration tracker across departments. Jackie from finance confirmed a demo had been done and suggested the tool could be manually populated to track leases, vehicle leases and technology subscriptions.

For ClearGov, the clerk proposed spending roughly $15,000 to create an interactive budget book (next-year contract after possible pilot) that would let the public drill into departmental line items. Commissioners discussed inviting ClearGov or Tyler staff to the county to provide training; one possible plan was to host Tyler training locally to reduce travel and possibly recoup costs by charging other counties to attend.

Recorder‑office requests included a property‑fraud alert system (described as a subscription/registration service that notifies property owners if a document is recorded against their parcel), two large‑format filing cabinets, and a large‑format scanner/printer that staff said is failing. The fraud‑alert product was described as a helpful consumer protection but not presently self‑sustaining; staff said they would explore subscription models and whether frequent users or commercial customers could fund the service in future years. The recorder’s one‑time price for the fraud‑alert setup was presented as $11,400 with an annual maintenance fee of $1,500.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about funding sources (whether purchases are from fee‑based funds or levy funds) and durability (the large‑format scanner was described as producing lines on scans and “not working at this point”). The board agreed the large‑format scanner and at least one large‑format cabinet were necessary operational purchases, and they asked for demonstrations and more detailed cost comparisons — especially for any request that would require ongoing maintenance fees.

No formal appropriations were voted during the workshop. Staff were directed to provide demos and additional information on sustainability and cross‑departmental use for the Debtbook and fraud‑alert products ahead of final budget decisions.

Speakers: the clerk’s office and recorder presented the items; county commissioners asked for demos and funding clarifications.