Commissioners decline new fees in treasurer’s office

By Holly Dabb hdabb@pinedaleroundup.com
Posted 11/17/20

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Commissioners decline new fees in treasurer’s office

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When asked to pass a resolution allowing new fees in the Sublette County Treasurer’s Office, county commissioners refused to take action at their Nov. 6 meeting.

Elected Treasurer Emily Paravicini presented a fee schedule and a resolution allowing her to implement fees to provide copies of documents and records to the public.

Historically, previous treasurer Roxanna Jensen didn’t charge fees, Paravicini explained to commissioners. If county residents misplace records, such as tax records, they request duplicates that are free.

After researching practices in other counties, Paravicini said fees could be implemented here if commissioners pass a

resolution outlining a fee schedule.
One of those fees would be a $250 charge for an Excel file list of the current tax roles. Paravicini said the cost is high because that list is updated daily with land transfers and payments. It is most often requested by mortgage companies, which bombard residents with solicitations and offers “that

don’t benefit them,” Paravicini said.
She added other county clerks report most companies “don’t bat an eye” at the expense. Other requests might be duplicates of tax payments and receipts because residents have lost them or did not retain their original

copies.

“It reimburses the county for the ink,

paper to provide duplicates,” she said. Commission chairman David Burnett said he repeatedly gets calls and complaints from residents that services from her office have declined. Yet at the same time, Paravicini

wants to charge more fees?
He targeted a policy set by Paravicini that

no titles or tax applications are issued after 4:45 p.m.

Many residents take time off work at the end of the day or get tied up by weather, Burnett said. They rush to the courthouse before the office’s advertised 5 p.m. closing and can’t get anything completed.

Paravicini defended the policy, saying people always think they have a simple transaction that will take five minutes but if paperwork is incomplete it could take 15 to 20 minutes. That means staff can’t leave until 5:15 to 5:20 p.m.

“Most of us have kids in daycare,” Paravicini said. “We get it done; maybe not immediately.”

She said the procedure is to accept the paperwork, process it the following business day and then mail documents to the resident.

Another often-requested document is past-due taxes on properties that have been placed on tax sales. These are usually requested by out-of-state residents or companies and the list is pages long, she said.

“We do offer a free option,” Paravicini said.

The list is published in the newspaper and uploaded annually on the county’s website. “It’s a PDF. They don’t want that; they

want the updated Excel sheet,” Paravicini said.

Commissioner Doug Vickrey made a motion to pass the resolution and accept the fee schedule.

After several requests for a second, and counting down with a 5, 4, 3, 2 and smacking-of-the-gavel deadline, Burnett ruled the resolution failed due to a lack of a second.