Recorder urges continued tech fee to finish back-scan; commissioners approve supplemental journal fund for 2026

Recorder Ashford and office manager David Perkins presented the recorder's proposed 2026 budget and a request to extend a technology fee into 2026 to complete a mandated back-scan of records to 1980.

Ashford told commissioners the recorder's office has scanned deeds and plats back to 1980 and was working through mortgages and indexes. "We currently sit at 1985," he said, adding that about a million images remain to be scanned. Ashford asked that the county continue the technology fee of $16.06 (the per-unit figure discussed at the hearing) to fund the scanning effort and other technology needs, including optical character recognition and an improved search interface.

On a related item, the board approved item 19: a journal fund supplement to support the recorder's technology needs during 2026. Commissioner Lopez moved the item; the clerk called the roll and recorded yes votes from Commissioner Lopez, Commissioner Gerken and Commissioner Cebecchi.

Recorder Ashford also described outreach and fraud-prevention work tied to the office's Alert Me program, which he said now has about 2,200 enrollments in the county. He said the office has historically generated net revenue for the county, listing past surpluses and cautioning that staffing must match transaction volumes if refinancing activity increases.

The board did not set a final budget for the recorder's operating appropriation at the hearing; commissioners approved the supplemental journal-fund action for technology support.