Consistent operation of the county recording clerks office is critical to the public’s access to accurate information. Budget deficits at the state and local levels are resulting in cutbacks in municipal services. Until now, most of the services being cut were not critical to everyday commerce. We are just now starting to see cutbacks in departments which could result in serious problems for residents.
In Colorado Springs CO, the county clerks office has been instructed to stop answering the phones, as they are understaffed. County clerk Bob Balink was forced to lay off 19 staffers late last year.
The recorders and assessors offices in Fresno CA have two weeks to dispute why they cannot make further cutbacks in their departments. Riverside County CA is planning on layoffs of 250 people, including 50 in departments such as assessor-clerk-recorder’s. The county is facing a $60 million budget deficit.
Ada County Idaho is cutting back its development services department to a “skeleton crew”, as a result of the real estate downturn. The county recorder’s office will cut two full-time clerk positions in response to the fewer real estate transactions needing to be recorded.
Lorain County OH Clerk of Courts Ron Nabakowski had to close a title office and lay off 11 employees there and in the legal divisions. In that county, only five sheriff’s deputies patrolling the roads the night of Dec. 28 when a burglar managed to break into a Carlisle Township development and steal two toilets and a bedroom set because there weren’t deputies available to respond to a call about suspicious circumstances.
Fifty employees in the Snohomish County WA clerks office will be taking a 10-day unpaid furlough this year, to help reduce the county budget deficit. The County Council voted 5-0 on Monday in favor of furloughs for the clerks’ association.
As these layoffs and cutbacks become more severe over the next year, it is likely that abstractors will notice deficiencies in the currency of recorded documents. In 2006 Wayne County Michigan made national headlines when it built up a backlog of deeds yet to be recorded. The lag was reported at one time to have been 4 to 6 months behind.
