Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Budget Recorder topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Recorder details FY2026 budget and pushes a statewide fee modernization proposal
Summary
The recorder’s office presented a FY2026 preliminary budget and described a proposal led by the Iowa County Recorders Association to increase real‑estate recording fees by $5 per document, with state legislation expected in 2025; the board preliminarily approved the recorder budget.
Sara Barrows, budget director, and the recorder’s office presented the recorder’s FY2026 appropriations request of $1,799,898 and projected revenues of $1,616,250, which the board preliminarily approved.
The recorder described several revenue drivers for FY2026: a boat renewal season that typically increases DNR‑related revenue, a modest decline in passport applications from a post‑pandemic peak, and a software migration to Fiddler Technologies that the office began implementing in September. The recorder said digital return via the new software ("swift") has already reduced postage and improved customer turnaround; she reported 59% of recorded documents in December so far have been returned electronically.
Recorder staff also described a fee modernization effort the Iowa County Recorders Association will submit with consultant support to state legislators in January. The proposal would add $5 per recorded real‑estate document to the county general fund; the recorder said the last fee update was in 1985 and that the proposed increase would still leave Iowa fees below many neighboring states.
Recorder staff noted one upcoming staffing retirement effective early in 2025 and said the office will consider benefit and position adjustments in the final FY2026 budget.
The board gave preliminary approval to the recorder’s FY2026 numbers and asked staff to confirm any appropriation changes that might follow the pending retirement.
