Commissioners table SRI lien-assist contract; push auditor for clearer credit-card documentation

Delaware County commissioners on Oct. 20 tabled a proposed contract with SRI Services for the county’s new lien-assist program and directed staff to return with a county-specific agreement and an ordinance that would allow a $5 automated fee to be charged to lien payers.

SRI’s lien-assist software is designed to centralize lien entry, noticing, recording and payment-tracking across municipalities and county offices, with the vendor handling mailings, recorder filings and documentation. County staff and SRI representatives emphasized that the platform can reduce manual re-entry, limit human error, and produce documentation useful in court or title transactions. SRI said the program has been used in other counties and that the new lien-assist product is an extension of the firm’s existing tax-sale and real-estate software work.

Commissioners requested a Delaware County version of the contract (several sample documents had city names in them) and asked for the ordinances required to permit the proposed $5 fee to be assessed and paid by lienholders; the board voted to table the matter and asked the vendor to prepare a contract that names "Delaware County" and incorporates the county attorney’s suggested edits.

Credit-card and claims transparency A lengthy discussion followed about the county’s multi-page list of credit-card payments included with the claims. One commissioner refused to sign the claims batch citing insufficient detail; commissioners and auditor staff agreed to improve documentation. The auditor’s office said departments supply receipts and claim forms, but the claims deputy combines monthly card payments into a single vendor payment, which limits the line-item detail shown on the payment roll.

To address that, commissioners instructed the auditor’s office and claims staff to provide commissioners with departmental claim forms and supporting invoices for credit-card transactions in the next payment folder. The auditor and a former auditor’s staffer suggested also testing a departmental "due date" or batching approach so credit-card charges can be entered in the county claims system like other invoices and pulled as a single scheduled batch for payment. The board asked for a trial of that approach and requested the auditor and claims staff return with a recommended process at the next meeting.

Next steps SRI was asked to produce a Delaware County contract and draft ordinance for commissioners’ review. Auditor and claims staff will provide supplemental credit-card documentation for the next claims packet and explore a departmental batching date for consolidated processing.