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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: October 5, 2010 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 4 - C <br />SUBJECT: Proposed Change in Cop Fees for the Register of Deeds Office <br />DEPARTMENT: Register of Deeds Office PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />Financial Services <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Deborah Brooks, Register of Deeds, <br />245-2679 <br />Clarence Grier, Financial Services <br />Director, 245-2453 <br />PURPOSE: To consider a change in the fees charged for copies in the Register of Deeds <br />Office. <br />BACKGROUND: Currently the Register of Deeds Office has set fees for copies provided to the <br />public. The computerized process compiles all printed output and charges fixed amounts. For <br />Land and Vital Records information, the copy fee is $0.25 per page. For a complete Parcel <br />Identification Number (PIN) report, regardless of the number of pages contained in the report, <br />the system charges $0.25 total. <br />With the implementation of the Property Information Management System (PIMS), the fee for all <br />copies would increase to $0.25 per page -more than the actual cost to provide the copies. It <br />would also result in a significant change for the Office's "regular" customers who print PIN <br />reports that are 1-50 pages at length. Based on the actual cost to the County, the Register of <br />Deeds Office proposes to set a new fee for all copies at $0.15 per page. <br />North Carolina General Statute 132-6.2. b states: <br />(b) Persons requesting copies of public records may request that the copies be certified or <br />uncertified. The fees for certifying copies of public records shall be as provided by law. <br />Except as otherwise provided by law, no public agency shall charge a fee for an <br />uncertified copy of a public record that exceeds the actual cost to the public agency of <br />making the copy. For purposes of this subsection, "actual cost" is limited to direct, <br />chargeable costs related to the reproduction of a public record as determined by generally <br />accepted accounting principles and does not include costs that would have been incurred <br />by the public agency if a request to reproduce a public record had not been made. <br />Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, if the request is such as to require <br />extensive use of information technology resources or extensive clerical or supervisory <br />assistance by personnel of the agency involved, or if producing the record in the medium <br />