DATE: August 23, 2022
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Oscar J. Garcia, CPA, Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector
SUBJECT: Approve Amendment No. 1 to Memorandum of Understanding for the Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment (SECURE)
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute Amendment No. 1 to Memorandum of Understanding between the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego to replace Attachment B to add “Lights Out Queue” functionality to the Fresno County Tax Collector’s access to the SECURE Government to Government (G2G) Portal.
REPORT
The “Lights Out Queue” functionality will allow for document recording process to be automated with limited involvement of the Tax Collector division of the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office and Recorder division of the Assessor-Recorder’s office via a batch process of up to 100 documents at a time, instead of individual document submittal. Currently, documents are uploaded individually by Tax Collector staff, requiring individual review and approval by Recorder staff.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended action is not approved by your board, the Tax Collector Division of the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector (Tax Collector) as well as the Recorder division of the Assessor-Recorder (Recorder) will continue to record and approve the recording of approximately 5,000 Tax Collector documents per year, individually, via the G2G Portal. This significantly impacts both efficiency and productivity due to the time needed during the day to complete the processes individually for each document.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no additional net County cost associated with the recommended action.
DISCUSSION:
The counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego (“Owners”) own the Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment (SECURE), which is used for accepting certain documents electronically for recording. The SECURE system includes the SECURE Government to Government (G2G) Portal, which is a separate portal to record electronically. Only government agencies or offices, including the Tax Collector, are allowed to use the G2G Portal.
On November 2, 2021, the County entered into an agreement with the Owners (County Agreement No. 21-448) to allow the Fresno County Tax Collector to use the SECURE G2G Portal to record documents electronically.
The Secure G2G Portal allows for documents to be submitted individually by the Tax Collector and, if submitted by 10 a.m., the documents may be recorded on the same business day. If the individually uploaded document is not submitted to the Recorder’s office by 10 a.m., the document will be recorded by the next business day. By contrast, the “Lights Out Queue” can accept up to 100 documents from the Tax Collector at any given time and record them through an automated process on demand as approved by the Recorder’s office. Once approved, these documents are reviewed, categorized, and recorded automatically without any additional review by Recorder’s office Staff.
The Tax Collector submits approximately 5,000 documents, including liens, notices of power to sell, re-recorded liens, and other official documents to the Recorder every year. The law requires some of these documents to be recorded on the same day they are submitted. For example, annual notices of power to sell, are recorded against properties that are property tax delinquent for five years or more. Implementing the “Lights Out Queue” would reduce the staff hours of both departments from approximately five minutes per document each (total of ten minutes per document) to less than one minute per document, as well as ensure consistent, same day recording of documents.
The Tax Collector recommends amending County Agreement No. 21-448 to replace Attachment B. The purpose of this new Attachment B is to add the “Lights Out Queue” functionality to the Fresno County Tax Collector’s access to the SECURE G2G Portal.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #22, November 2, 2021
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Amendment No. 1 to Memorandum of Understanding
CAO ANALYST:
Paige Benavides