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County recorder proposes reallocating $1 per filing to boost technology fund; commissioners supportive
Summary
Medina County recorder Linda Hoffman asked commissioners to increase the recorder office's technology-fund set-aside from $4 to $5 per recorded document (a reallocation, not a new public filing fee) to fund digitization work; commissioners signaled support and staff said implementation could begin July 1 if approved.
County recorder Linda Hoffman asked the Medina County Board of Commissioners to reallocate $1 of existing recording fees — raising the recorder's technology-fund set-aside from $4 to $5 per document — to support computerization, indexing and digitization of older records without increasing the public's current filing fee.
Why it matters: Hoffman's proposal aims to fund multi-year digitization work that the office says will cost six figures over the coming years; the change would generate an estimated $25,000 a year for the technology fund while keeping the public filing fee unchanged.
"Last year, the state of Ohio passed Senate Bill 94...allowed counties an option to charge an additional $5 document preservation fee," Hoffman told commissioners. "Fifty-nine of Ohio's 88 counties have elected to go that route...Our office has elected not to do that. That's an additional user fee...we can meet that expense one other way and that way is to increase the set aside that we have currently at $4 per document to increase that to $5 per document." She added: "It won't increase the filing fee that people are currently paying. It's just a reallocation of the fund. That'll generate in a year an extra $25,000 for my office to help meet these computerization expenses."
Finance Director Brett Thomas and other commissioners voiced support during the discussion but said they would monitor ongoing needs; Thomas noted the county has reserves and that if needs grow they could consider a fee increase later. Staff indicated the county's vendor said it could implement the accounting changes quickly and that a July 1 start could be feasible if commissioners adopt a resolution next week.
What’s next: Staff will prepare a resolution for the commissioners' consideration next week to effect the reallocation; if approved, the recorder's office expects to implement the change with vendor support by July 1.
