governmental services - GORacine.org

FUND: GENERALGOVERNMENTAL SERVICESREGISTER OF DEEDSTyson Fettes, Register of DeedsOPERATING AUTHORITY AND PURPOSEThe Register of Deeds office is established in the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin, with its duties prescribedby Wisconsin Statutes, predominately Section 59.43. The office is the custodian of real estate recordings, vitalrecords, and Uniform Commercial Code filings for Racine County. The real estate records maintained in theoffice form the foundation of the County's Geographic Information System, which is maintained by the PublicWorks and Development Services Department.EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE MEASURESExpanded the acceptance of electronic recordings. Worked with area title companies, national vendors,and other submitters to increase the volume of electronic recordings submitted to the Register of Deeds office.We are currently accepting approximately 45% of our documents electronically. Racine County was thesecond county in the state to accept electronic deeds.Improved public access to records by launching the LandShark on-line records program. This allows thepublic access to recorded documents, while also generating additional revenue for the county. We havecontinued to back-scan documents, allowing more of them to be accessed electronically. We currently haveover 6,000 people who have utilized the LandShark records program.Most productive staff in the area. We continue to process more documents per staff member than othercounties in southeastern Wisconsin. This shows that we are making the most of our resources to operateefficiently and effectively.Consistently submitted budgets that have controlled spending in both the Register of Deeds and RealEstate Description offices. The 2013 budget is less than the 2005 budget.Insistence on quality customer service. We know that most people do not deal with a governmental agencyregularly and some find the process difficult. We try to make each person’s experience as pleasant aspossible.Continued to maintain reduced recording times. In the early 2000’s, the average time to record and returndocuments under previous administrations was ten weeks. Through a great deal of effort by a hardworkingstaff, and through greater procedural efficiencies, turnaround time now averages between one and two days.Became the first county in the state to contract for data entry. We have completed a two-year contract fortract indexing with a private vendor. This has increased efficiency and reduced costs.2013 GOALS AND BUDGET STRATEGIESContinue to operate an efficient and cost-effective department. This will be accomplished by cross-trainingemployees in the Real Estate Description office and the Register of Deeds office to better utilize resources,maintain efficient operations, and contract for services.Expand implementation of the electronic recording system. We plan on increasing the volume of documentsthat we record electronically.Work with the Information Systems Department and the Public Works and Development ServicesDepartment to maximize office efficiency and public access via technology.Continue to maintain a one-two day turnaround time on real estate recordings.Complete redaction of social security numbers from electronic images.PAGE 5 - 1