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Recorder flags 450,000-document backlog and urges investment in digitization to protect service and revenue
Summary
Recorder staff told the committee the office has roughly 450,000 unprocessed documents (~2 million pages) and that 93% of the office budget is personnel; they urged investment in digitization and website improvements to expand access and revenue while warning that staff cuts would cost institutional knowledge and public service delays.
Kevin and Dakota from the Recorder's Office told the Budget Committee that the office's statutory duty to preserve records spans documents from 1870 to present and that they currently have about 450,000 documents (approximately 2,000,000 pages) not yet processed for online access. They estimated it would take about 30 employees a full year to process those pages.
Staffing is the dominant cost: presenters said roughly 93% of the recorder budget is personnel. The office has trimmed some operating/capital items and was asked to find about $25,000 in reductions; presenters said they can make modest savings this cycle but cautioned that deeper personnel cuts would erode institutional knowledge (average tenure ~16 years) and reduce service to citizens and industry partners (title companies, law firms, lenders).
The recorder's team proposed improved website functionality, targeted digitization and use of automation/AI tools to increase online access and create new revenue streams by making older documents more discoverable and purchasable. They suggested aligning local fees with peer counties where statutory rules allow and noted some cost recovery opportunities from online access fees.
The office asked the commission to consider strategic investment now so that future recording-volume recovery will generate revenue and avoid deferring costs to later years when backlogs are costlier to remediate.
