Town clerk defends required microfilming and off-site records backup, cites roughly $0.98 per image

Town Clerk Elizabeth discussed the clerk’s budget and the town’s records-retention practices at the Jan. 29 budget workshop, explaining why the town continues to microfilm land records even though they are also stored electronically.

She told the board that payroll requests reflect a typical 3% increase and that other contract costs are up about 11 percent. On records, Elizabeth said about 3,300 images remain to be microfilmed. "Let's just make it 98¢ an image, to microfilm," she said, describing the vendor charge and the downstream storage: once microfilmed, images go to Atkins and are stored in Iron Mountain as an off-site backup.

Elizabeth noted that the state librarian sets parameters for acceptable electronic storage and that current microfilming meets those parameters. "They make the directive, and we have to follow it," she said, explaining the town must comply with state requirements for long-term record preservation.

Board members asked whether alternative aggregate electronic storage or different media would be cheaper; staff responded that although electronic storage exists, the state librarian’s standards govern acceptable formats and off-site microfilm continues to be the mandated backup approach.

Next steps: The clerk will proceed under the existing contract and provide any further cost breakdowns requested by the board during budget deliberations.