County recorders: fees.

Assembly Member Bennett proposes adjusting county recorder fees for the first time since 2010, raising the base recording charge from $10 to $15 for initial pages and from $3 to $4 for additional pages. The legislation requires these fees remain within reasonable cost limits and directs all revenue specifically to recorder office operations.

The bill modifies how recording fees support document system modernization, increasing the allocation from $1 to $3 per additional page for technology upgrades and maintenance. It also removes the January 2026 sunset date for the $1 supplemental fee that funds document preservation and archiving programs, while updating terminology from "archival microfilm" to "archival mediums" to reflect current preservation methods.

County recorders retain authority to assess additional charges for non-standard document formatting and to support specific programs like social security number redaction, subject to board of supervisor approval and audit requirements. The legislation maintains existing fee exemptions for qualified government entities while eliminating the requirement that $1 of each additional page fee go to county general funds.