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Registrar of Deeds calls in to plead staffing needs; commission weighs tech fund and a half‑FTE change
Summary
Registrar Laura phoned in to explain digitizing work and to ask commissioners not to cut staff; commissioners discussed a recently repealed resolution that had added a road-record officer line and considered using a tech fund to bridge staffing.
Laura, the county’s registrar of deeds, phoned into the budget work session to describe ongoing digitizing work in her office and to urge commissioners not to cut a position her office uses for records work.
Commissioners said a January resolution had added a line item described as a road-record officer; that addition was later removed, and the commission clarified the payroll status of the registrar's office. Staff said the registrar’s office presently shows three payroll positions (the registrar plus two others) and that recent adjustments had increased one part-time role toward full time, effectively adding about a half‑FTE in the current documents.
Commissioners and staff discussed the registrar’s tech fund, which staff said contains roughly $50,000–$57,000. An attorney-general opinion was mentioned in the work session indicating the tech fund can be used for digitizing records; commissioners explored using part of that fund as a temporary supplement to keep a position in place while digitizing work continues or until the next election cycle produces staffing continuity.
Laura told commissioners, by phone, that most of the office’s records are digitized and that cutting staff would impair customer service: "Just don't cut my person," she said, adding that the office provides paid document services to out-of-town title companies and that those revenues are captured in budget/audit lines. She also said, "Everything in my office is digitized," while describing ongoing indexing work that still requires staff time.
Commissioners ultimately tabled an immediate staffing decision and directed staff to analyze: (1) exact payroll lines for the registrar's office, (2) the tech-fund balance and allowable uses, and (3) whether part of the tech fund could legally supplement an FTE for a limited period. One commissioner said they would talk with Laura about the possibility of using the tech fund to bridge a position in the short term but cautioned that statutory language may limit allowable uses.
The registrar item was left on the agenda for follow-up and staff were asked to return with the legal interpretation and a dollar figure for any proposed tech-fund supplement.
