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Houston County clerk proposes using restricted title fees for digital minutes, part‑time bookkeeping; committee approves budget
Summary
County Clerk Diane told the budget committee that auditors reclassified title fees as restricted funds and she proposed a $6,500 line item for digital minutes processing plus a part‑time bookkeeping position; the committee voted to approve the clerk’s budget on a temporary basis.
County Clerk Diane told the Houston County budget committee that auditors have identified title‑fee receipts as restricted funds and recommended the county track and spend them only on title and registration services.
She said the office can use the fees—about $3 per title—to supplement supplies and equipment and proposed a new $6,500 line item to buy software and services to digitize and index meeting minutes so resolutions and past actions can be searched more quickly.
Why it matters: Diane said searchable minutes would speed audits and requests from commissioners and reduce the county’s ongoing costs for printed minute books, which she said run about $800 a year.
Diane described the change as a bookkeeping and reporting realignment: "It was discovered during our last audit that, we were under the assumption that title monies is something that is given to, or was provided to us," and said the county will report the receipts to the trustee’s office and maintain them as restricted balances for titling purposes.
She told the committee the office is discussing OCR and digital‑conversion services with a vendor she identified as 3 I Vertical to convert old minute books into searchable PDFs. "You just basically research it like you can online," she said of the proposed system.
Diane also asked for a part‑time position (12 hours per week, projected for a full year) to help set up new bookkeeping and records processes and to train permanent staff. She said a workstation costing $6,500 was purchased in a recent past purchase from those title funds and estimated the office could allocate roughly $7,500 a year from title fees to support the new items.
Discussion and outcome: Committee members asked several technical questions about what the restricted fund may cover and how the trustee’s office will report it. A motion to approve the county clerk budget on a temporary basis was made, seconded and the committee voted in favor by voice; the chair recorded the budget as approved for now pending final revenue figures.
Ending: Diane said the changes aim to streamline minute retrieval and improve audit compliance; the clerk’s office will work with the trustee and auditors to finalize accounting and reporting.
