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County clerk warns of July 1 recording-fee change; proposes absorbing small death-certificate fee
Summary
Clerk to the board Kelly Cancher reported that state law will change recording fees on July 1 and noted the state will waive a $2 portion of a death-certificate fee; the clerk proposed a local resolution to cover the remaining $1 and laid out bookkeeping options for the county budget.
Kelly Cancher, clerk to the board, told the commissioners on June 19 that recording fees will change July 1 and that her office is preparing a fee schedule and a resolution for the board's consideration.
Cancher said the current recording fee is $13 for the first page and $5 for each additional page; beginning July 1 the fee will be a flat $43 per recorded document. "If you got 1 page, it's gonna be $43," she told the board. The new fee was described as a change expected to increase county revenue from recording overall, although some categories of documents (for example, death certificates) will be treated differently.
Cancher told commissioners she had worked with the state to address death-certificate charges and that the state would waive a $2 portion of the new fee for death certificates because of a drafting oversight; she said the clerk's office is considering waiving the remaining $1 to avoid charging grieving families and would prepare a resolution for the board. She estimated that absorbing the $1 would cost the county about $8 a year, give or take, and that she is working with finance staff on bookkeeping to account for the change.
Cancher also provided a snapshot of May office collections: total fees collected in May were $248,368.97; she noted not all of that amount stays in county coffers because some fees are distributed to the state and towns.
She advised the board that accessibility surveys for polling places are due July 7 and said her office will continue to prepare updated election and fee schedules for the new fiscal year.
Clarifying details - Recording fee change: currently $13 for the first page and $5 for each additional page; will become $43 per recorded document on July 1 (as reported by the clerk). - Death certificate charge: state will waive a $2 portion; clerk proposes county absorb the remaining $1 (estimated cost to county about $8 per year). - May collections: clerk reported total fees for May of $248,368.97; distributions vary by fee type.
