§ 1671. Town clerk

(a) For the purposes of this section, a "page" is defined as a single side of a leaf of paper on which is printed, written, or otherwise placed information to be recorded or filed. The maximum covered area on a page shall be 7 1/2 inches by 14 inches. All letters shall be at least one-sixteenth inch in height or in at least eight-point type. Unless otherwise provided by law, the fees to town clerks shall be as follows:

(1) For recording a trust mortgage deed as provided in 24 V.S.A. § 1155, $15.00 per page;

(2) For filing or recording a copy of a complaint to foreclose a mortgage as provided in 12 V.S.A. § 4523(b), $15.00 per page;

(3) For examination of records by town clerk a fee of $5.00 per hour may be charged but not more than $25.00 for each examination on any one calendar day;

(4) For examination of records by others a fee of $4.00 per hour may be charged;

(5) Town clerks may require fees for all filing, recording, and copying to be paid in advance;

(6) For the recording or filing, or both, of any document that is to become a matter of public record in the town clerk's office a fee of $15.00 per page shall be charged; for any certified copy of such document, a fee of $10.00 per page shall be charged; for the recording or filing, or both, of a property transfer return, a fee of $15.00 shall be charged;

(7) For uncertified copies of records and documents on file, or recorded, a fee of $1.00 per page shall be charged, with a minimum fee of $2.00; however, copies of minutes of municipal meetings or meetings of local boards and commissions, copies of grand lists and checklists and copies of any public records that any agency of that political subdivision has deposited with the clerk shall be available to the public at actual cost;

(8) For survey plats filed in accordance with 27 V.S.A. chapter 17, a fee of $25.00 per 11 inch by 17 inch sheet, $25.00 per 18 inch by 24 inch sheet, and $25.00 per 24 inch by 36 inch sheet shall be charged.

(b) A schedule of all fees shall be posted in the town clerk's office.

(c)(1) The legislative body shall create a Restoration and Preservation Reserve Fund of not less than $4.00 per page from the per page recording fees established under this section.

(2) The Restoration and Preservation Reserve Fund shall be used solely for restoration, preservation, digitization, storage, and conservation of municipal records.

(3) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection, a municipality may allocate less than $4.00 per page from recording fees if the clerk of the municipality annually certifies that the municipality has sufficient dedicated reserve funds to provide for the uses described in subdivision (2) of this subsection. On or before the third Monday of each year, the clerk shall submit a copy of the certification to the House Committee on Government Operations.

(d) Nothing in this section shall preclude a municipality from committing funds to a Restoration and Preservation Reserve Fund in addition to those funds in subsection (c) of this section.

(e) Unspent funds in the Restoration and Preservation Reserve Fund shall carry over to subsequent fiscal years and shall be available as needed for the purposes described in subsection (c) of this section.

(f) When more than one previously recorded instrument is affected by the terms of a new instrument submitted for recording, the per page fee established in this section shall be assessed for each document affected by the terms of the new instrument. (Amended 1959, No. 171, §§ 1-9; 1965, No. 128; 1967, No. 146, § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1968; 1969, No. 40, § 3, eff. April 4, 1969; 1971, No. 84, § 14; 1979, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 1981, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 22, 1982; 1985, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1993, No. 170 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 1993, No. 171 (Adj. Sess.), § 17; 1995, 1993, No. 109 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1993, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1997, No. 59, § 89a, eff. June 30, 1997; 1997, No. 155 (Adj. Sess.), § 66a; 1999, No. 155 (Adj. Sess.), § 12b; 2007, No. 76, § 33f; 2007, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 29; 2009, No. 47, § 13; 2009, No. 3 (Sp. Sess.), § 22c, eff. June 1, 2009; 2019, No. 38, § 2.)