TRUMBULL COUNTY Limit on charge for copies will short the general fund

The records are also available online.
WARREN -- An Ohio attorney general's opinion limiting copy fees charged by the county recorders office could cost Trumbull County thousands of dollars next year, Recorder Diana Marchese said.
The money had gone into the county's general fund. Officials were already expecting general fund shortfall in excess of $5 million next year.
This week, Marchese reduced the fee from $2 a page to 10 cents a page for self-serve copies of the mortgages and deeds recorded at her office.
The decision was in keeping with a September opinion from the Ohio attorney general limiting fees to 10 cents a page on copies that people make themselves.
The office could continue to charge $2 a page for copies made by office staff. However, Marchese said her staff would help people unfamiliar with the office to make their own copies and avoid the additional charge.
Free online
The records can be accessed for free from the recorder's Web site.
Certified copies still must be made by office staff at the higher charge, she said.
The $2 per page fee had been set by the state Legislature. Half the money was sent to Columbus, where it goes toward a trust fund for affordable housing and the state's general fund. The other half went to the county.
The office collected $131,000 last year from copy fees, she said.