Fee increase for recording documents proposed

The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee discussed a measure Jan. 19 that would increase fees required for recording documents with the register of deeds.

LB14, introduced by Lexington Sen. John Wightman, would increase the fee for recording documents with the register of deeds from $5 per page to $10 for the first page and $6 for each additional page.

The register of deeds records legal documents such as deeds, mortgages and wills.

The adjustment would increase by $2.50 the fee for recording the first page of a document and by 50 cents for any additional pages. One half of the additional funds generated by the increase would be designated to fund the preservation, maintenance and modernization of public records in the register of deed’s office.

The increase would eliminate the current 50-cent indexing fee for each lot or section for the first five indexes.

The bill also would increase the uniform fee associated with recording documents pursuant to the Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act, payable to the Secretary of State, from $6 to two times the fee required for recording instruments with the register of deeds.

The uniform fee would continue to be split evenly between the Secretary of State and each designated county in the filing.

Wightman said costs for recording documents have risen substantially since fees were last increased in 1983, adding that those who use the services of the register of deeds should pay the cost.

“For 27 years the taxpayers have been bearing the cost of inflation,” he said.

Funds from the fee increase for improved technology would allow greater access to public records, Wightman said, by increasing their availability on the Internet, for example.

Larry Dix, executive director of the Nebraska Association of County Officials, agreed.

The bill would assist counties in improving technological capabilities, he said, which would mean fewer trips to the courthouse for citizens in rural areas.

“This is the way the world is moving, and we have to move in that direction,” Dix said.

There was no opposition testimony and the committee took no immediate action on the bill.