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Lane County increases public land corner preservation recording fee to $25 to stabilize program
Summary
The Board unanimously approved a $15 increase to the per-document recording fee for the Public Land Corner Preservation Fund (fund 240), raising the county's allocation to $25 per recorded document to sustain survey crews and the county's corner-maintenance program.
The Lane County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved increasing the per-document recording fee for the Public Land Corner Preservation Fund (fund 240) from $10 to $25. Public Works proposed the $15 increase to stabilize a program that restores and maintains section corners, quarter-section corners and donation-land-claim monuments that underpin legal land descriptions.
Why it matters: County survey staff maintain approximately 14,000 survey monuments that form the foundation of the public land survey system. The program is funded primarily by a per-document recording fee at Deeds & Records; removal of a statutory fee cap earlier this year allowed counties to set the fee to align with local needs. Public Works presented fiscal projections showing that without an increase, the corner-preservation fund would become structurally imbalanced by FY 2027—30. The $15 increase is intended to keep revenues and expenditures on a roughly parallel path through FY 2030—31 without expanding staffing.
How it works: The fee is collected when a property document is recorded (for example, a deed or an easement) and is charged per document (not per page). Deeds & Records collects the fee and retains a small administrative portion; property owners and parties filing recording documents pay the fee as part of the normal recording costs. Public Works compared peer counties and found Lane County's proposed $25 total falls within the range other Oregon counties have adopted or proposed.
Board action and next steps: The board approved the order to increase the fee (order 26-06-02-07) and directed staff to implement the fee adjustment through Deeds & Records. Public Works said the increase will support at least the existing level of one survey crew and stabilize fund 240 amid fluctuations in recording activity.
Quote: "For nearly four decades revenue has been collected through a $10 per-document recording fee. With the removal of the statutory fee cap, the county now has the opportunity to stabilize this essential program," Public Works staff said in presenting the analysis.
Effective date: The board approved the fee increase during the June 2 meeting; staff directed Deeds & Records to implement the new fee schedule and handle administrative collection.
