Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority Accomplishments & Year-end Report

Transcription

1 Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority Accomplishments & Year-end Report

2 Executive Summary Motivationalist Paul J. Meyer often said Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. These words could be used to describe the continuing productivity and success of the Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority. Despite challenges to the organization brought on by an unexpected health battle for our longtime executive director and a mixed bag of economic conditions, the Authority completed FY 2014 financially solid and operationally intact. The resilience of our results is a testament to the quality of our products and our continued focus on managing costs. Our productivity and success is no accident, but rather the result of the outstanding and prudent leadership of our Board of Directors, the effort, skill and dedication of our professional staff, and the willingness of 159 clerks of Superior Court to work together for the good of all clerks and the State of Georgia. In 1993, Superior Court clerks were galvanized by a common goal and came together to fight for the creation of the Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority. As Greg G. Allen, Superior Court clerk of Forsyth County, says in the soon-to-be-published history of the GSCCCA, To think that a group of seasoned clerks of this generation, in an elected position, whose duties were codified over two hundred years ago, not only understood the radical change the world was experiencing but were able to see the future and harness technology to the advantage of the citizens of Georgia is nothing short of amazing. Through challenges and uphill battles, clerks and the Authority staff have worked together to create the amazing success story we know today... or in the words of Authority Chairman Barry Wilkes, a paradigm for how government can and ought to work. From the beginning, the Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority has been an innovator within the public records arena, and in so doing, has led our state to the forefront of court technology. Using a mix of old-fashioned cooperation and state-ofthe-art technology, the GSCCCA has made life easier for those who need access to real estate records, financing statements, civil and criminal case data, and other legal documents Today, the GSCCCA is a very different organization than the one that opened its doors in Since its establishment, the Authority has not only fulfilled its original purpose of establishing a statewide system for the indexing of UCC documents, but has successfully developed and implemented a variety of additional projects at the request of the Georgia General Assembly and other state agencies and all this accomplished with zero state dollars. Page 2

3 The Authority has grown into a diverse entity that is respected both locally and nationally for its progressive, innovative and effective approach to problem solving. For this reason, it has been sought by other government and not-for-profit groups to partner on a variety of issues. The Authority now oversees the following: Notary Division Fines & Fees Division UCC Project Real Estate Deed Project Historical Deed Re-Indexing Project County-Funded Historical Deed Re-Indexing Project Lien, Plat & Map Project Historical Plat & Map Project PT-61 Project Premium Search Account Data Archive Project (MyVault Online Archive Service) Microfilm Project efile Project Civil Case Data Project Georgia Protective Order Registry Criminal Case Data Project (Offender-Based Tracking System) Carbon Sequestration Registry In successfully developing and implementing these projects, the Authority modernized Superior Court clerk offices and created several one-of-a-kind systems that integrated and standardized information from each of Georgia s 159 counties on a central website, These databases provide accountability, uniformity, efficiencies and cost-savings by affording: Unprecedented access to valuable information free access through search terminals installed in all clerk of Superior Court offices, and convenient internet access, by subscription, for those desiring 24-hour, 7-day-a-week access. Additional funding for clerks offices. Information that allows lawmakers to more effectively set public policy. Critical and timely crime data to protect the safety of the public and law enforcement officers throughout Georgia. The GSCCCA is governed by a board of ten members whose meetings are open to the public. The Authority was created, implemented and continues to operate without receiving any funds through local, state or federal taxes, and its activities undergo constant legislative oversight. The Authority has been continually praised for its wise use of available resources, and has proven to be a resounding success for offering unique services for Georgia counties and citizens. Page 3

4 Following are some of the highlights from the past fiscal year: Created a history of the GSCCCA to celebrate upcoming 20-year anniversary. The goal of the project is to permanently record the early battles, the on-going development and implementation of myriad projects, and the ultimate success story of the Authority, and to memorialize the vision, inspiration and actions of individuals who worked tirelessly and collectively to achieve what many believed was not possible. The book will be published and distributed during FY Re-opened Historical Deed Re-Indexing Project, and launched a formal program to complete the deed indexing for all incomplete indexing and imaging for the year 1992 so as move the inclusive range of deed data back to 1992 for all counties. Added over 435,000 additional deed and plat instruments through County-Funded Historical Deed Re-Indexing Project. As a result of this program, the public has access to additional real estate information at no additional cost to the Authority, and clerks offices have access to additional resources through print image fees initiated through the Authority s website. Twenty counties are now participating in the program. Developed a website to enable clerks to view and download their notary data and use it for advertising, promotion, or any other purpose they may require. Completed extensive work in anticipation of the passage of HB 670, a bill that would have created a statewide trade name registry to be hosted by the Authority. Work included creating a sophisticated database for tracking and retaining trade name registrations, creating standardized forms that would be completed online and submitted by clerks of Superior Court for inclusion in the registry, and creating a system and the necessary companion standards for receiving trade name data electronically from counties that already index and store such information locally. Surprisingly, the bill was vetoed by the governor, but it is anticipated that it will be reintroduced during the 2015 legislative session. Ushered in new UCC filing requirements when SB 185 (UCC Amendments to Article 9) became effective on July 1, Drafted new UCC Administrative Rules, in consultation with other jurisdictions, for adoption by the Authority board. Published new UCC forms to and edited website content to reflect changes effected by SB 185 including updating UCC rejection reasons. Conducted webinars for Superior Court clerk personnel, banks and the legal community on UCC legislative changes. Monitored bill to rewrite Georgia s notary law. The Authority board appointed a committee comprised of board members, industry experts and Authority staff and charged the group with making the revisions to notary law. The goal is to modernize Georgia s notary law and to bring it in line with the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts as promulgated by the Uniform Law Commission. A bill based on the group s work was introduced during the 2014 legislative session but did not make it out of the House. The bill will be reintroduced during the 2015 legislative session. Continued to tweak and improve to better serve customers after launching a completely redesigned version to rave reviews last year. Page 4

5 Increased the number of Premium Search accounts by 27.8% for a fiscal year-end total of 2,291 accounts. Launched last year, this premium account allows users to search by property address as well as land lot making it attractive to many groups including appraisers and realtors. These accounts represent over $692,000 in increased revenue for FY 2014, and over $1.16 million in additional revenue since the Premium Search account was launched. This number is expected to grow in the coming years as the number of Premium Search accounts increases. Added numerous features and fixes to the Premium Account s Map Search application for the iphone, including a larger display screen for iphone 5 compatibility. This mobile app provides the most up-to-date and accurate real estate sales data in the state of Georgia, and is the ONLY mobile app that provides real-time sales data based on the official source of property transfer tax data in Georgia. The Clerks Authority Map Search Application is available to Premium Search subscribers for free. Increased addresses searchable in the Clerks Authority Map Search application by 166,256 properties for a fiscal year-end total of over 1.83 million addresses, making the Map Search app even more valuable. Performed two permanent archival backups of approximately 10.4 TBs of images. This ensures that we have an up-to-date copy of our images in case of a data loss. Developed program to convert plats from the submission standard to the GSCCCA standard in order to help clerks receive these files in cases where they would otherwise not have the ability to do so. Installed new version of Scansend in 83 more counties for a total of 104 counties on 312 scan stations. The new version ensures a quicker installation process for counties with an automatic updating feature that integrates seamlessly with the application, integrates troubleshooting and diagnostic tools to help CSRs troubleshoot issues that might arise, allows CSRs to easily set up and update individual installations from an internal website without the need to access users computers, and is compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8. Continued an Executive Document Management Imaging Program providing for searchable electronic documents used by management on a recurring basis. Maintained a compliance rate of close to 100% for all courts through a dedicated and consistent notification process by the Fines & Fees Division. Increased participation in Notary Online to 123 counties. Added a feature on the Authority website to allow ordering the Notary Handbook online and paying by credit card. Before this feature was available, a person had to mail a form and check or come in person to the Authority office to purchase the Notary Handbook. Since adding this feature, handbook sales have increased from 800 to 1,000 this fiscal year. Restored over 220 GBs of data for 11 counties through the Authority s MyVault Online Archive Service in FY Currently, 116 counties participate in the program with 5 counties added this fiscal year and 5 more preparing to participate. The statistics continue to stagger with the online vault protecting over 413 million files totaling more than 51 TBs of data. Page 5

6 In addition to the many enhancements and new features that were added over the last twelve months, the Authority continued to successfully manage its many existing programs. Numbers don t tell the full story but the following statistics show the volume of work handled by the Authority and are further evidence of our growth and success over the past two decades. Following are some of the highlights from FY 2014: Added over 11 million images to the system this fiscal year for a June 30, 2014 total of almost 220 million images. Had over 374 million page views and almost 1 million unique visitors to The public accesses the Authority s invaluable data via the Internet more than 4.5 million times each year from 186 countries. Upgraded 485 regular subscriber accounts to Premium Search accounts for a total of 2,291 Premium Search accounts. The number of total active monthly subscribers to was 14,682 as of June 30, Remitted to clerks offices almost $813,000 for deed images this fiscal year and over $12.3 million for deed images since the beginning of the project. Returned almost $5 million to clerks offices for prints ($.50 per print) off the Authority website and approximately $35.9 million for prints since the Authority was established. Ordered, processed and shipped a total of 1,354 pieces of new equipment to clerks offices including CPUs, monitors, servers, laptops and scanners. The Authority has provided over 22,400 pieces of new equipment to clerks offices since opening its doors in Deployed 1,021 pieces of new equipment (647 computers, 267 monitors and 107 scanners) to 69 Superior Court clerk offices to replace depreciated equipment as part of the Statewide Computer Replacement Project for all 159 counties. Electronically transmitted to the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC), a division of the GBI, over 36,000 Protective Orders indexed by clerks. Electronically transmitted to GCIC over 255,000 records of criminal court dispositions from various courts in Georgia for the purpose of compiling criminal histories and background checks. Received over 19,700 calls and over 6,800 requests to HelpDesk. Issued over 30,000 apostilles. Documents originated in 132 different Georgia counties to be used in 86 different countries. Served over 9,100 walk-in customers and answered over 9,000 phone calls to the Notary Division. Backed up over 740 TBs of data, the equivalent of backing up the printed collection of the U. S. Library of Congress about 74 times! Collected and disbursed approximately $95 million in court fees. Conducted 74 classroom training sessions, webinars and one-on-one programs on various subjects across the state in addition to offering four online training courses. Indexed over 227,000 UCCs and conducted over 6,300 Certified Searches for FY Since opening in 1995, the Authority has indexed over 5.1 million UCCs and conducted over 221,000 Certified Searches. Page 6

7 Submitted almost 7,100 real estate deed books containing over 4.4 million pages for microfilm. 156 counties participate in the Authority s Microfilm Project, offered free of charge to clerks of Superior Court. Blocked over 4.4 million spam s, blocking 95% of all received. Beyond the numbers, though, we gauge our success by the response and feedback we continue to receive from clerks, bankers, lawyers, realtors and other customers about our product and how integral it has become to their business. From real estate records and lending information to active notaries and court fines and fees, the GSCCCA enables convenient access to invaluable information helping everyday Georgians and giving the business community an innovative tool for making their work more efficient and effective. Much has been accomplished since the Authority was created over twenty years ago but the challenges of today s business environment are real and the pace of change is accelerating. As we have in the past, we continue to respond to this environment through innovation in our projects and an aggressive approach when confronting tough problems. Each day, we work hard to grow and improve our business, and operate more efficiently and effectively. We are committed to remaining entrepreneurial and strategic and positioning the Authority for continued preeminence. Thanks to our Board, to clerks of Superior Court, and to our staff, our record of success and commitment to continuous innovation and improvement speaks for itself. The Authority will continue to incorporate customer feedback into our product and technical decisions as we grow existing programs and develop new initiatives based on the changing needs of our many constituencies. The following pages provide an overview of the Authority and a more detailed review of the many accomplishments of the past fiscal year. Page 7

8 Information about The Authority s website, allows centralized, online searches of data from Georgia s 159 counties giving the public unprecedented access to valuable information including UCC financing statements, real estate deeds, liens, plats and maps, PT-61s, and more. Free access to this information is available during regular business hours through public search terminals installed in each county s Superior Court clerk office. Convenient internet access is also available, by subscription, and provides users with 24-hour, 7-day-a-week access. The public accesses the Authority s invaluable data via the Internet more than 4.5 million times each year from 186 countries. Information that previously required physical trips to county courthouses to retrieve can now be gained from the convenience of one s home or office through the Authority website saving Georgia citizens and businesses an unquantifiable amount of time and money every year. Website Statistics for FY 2014 Images added to the system: 11,078,575 Sessions: 4,511,450 Data transmitted: 11.2 TB Page views: 374,657,929 Unique visitors: 979,390 Average page views per visit: Average visit duration: 14:08 minutes Number of countries that visited: 186 Top browsers: 64.64% of users use Internet Explorer, 83.84% of these users use IE 8 or newer % of users use Google Chrome. In 2013, the Authority completely redesigned in an effort to better serve its customers and to capitalize in the digital space on the value of its data. The success of the redesigned website has been measured by increased subscribers, better organization of information, improved and easier user experience, and positive customer feedback. After last year s successful redesign, we continue to look at ways to improve the user experience on our site. The redesign modernized our webpages and reduced the amount of images and data sent to our website users. As such, we saw impressive reductions in website hits and bandwidth required to deliver our main website s content. Following this trend, we are no longer reporting yearly hits on our website, but instead will be reporting industry standard analytic values on Sessions (an individual s visit to a site), Unique Visitors, and Page Views. Tracking these standard analytic values will help paint a portrait of our very impressive stats and will allow us to more accurately see how many times each year our users visit and interact with our website. With the volume and diversity of information contained in the website and the variety of audiences that it serves, the Authority wants to ensure that each visitor is provided a user-centric experience that is tailored to his or her needs whether the visitor is a clerk of court, a real estate professional, a notary public, or a property lawyer. As web users evolve and their needs and devices change, it is more important than ever for online services to grow and expand their online presence. And with close to one million annual visitors to the Authority believes that it is critical for its site to be clear, responsive and easy-to-use for its customers. Page 8

9 Website Subscribers Total (Regular + Premium Search) monthly subscribers as of 6/30/14: 14,682 Regular monthly subscribers as of 6/30/14: 12,391 Premium Search monthly subscribers as of 6/30/14: 2,291 Percentage increase in Premium Search accounts for FY 2014: 27.8% Upgraded from regular subscriber accounts to Premium Search accounts: 485 Additional revenue generated from Premium Search accounts FY 2014: over $692,000 Additional revenue generated from Premium accounts since inception: over $1.16 million Single-use subscribers added during fiscal year: 15,949 Since 1999, website subscriptions have increased dramatically, clear evidence of the Authority s growth and the growing value of its statewide indexes. Beyond the numbers, though, the Authority gauges its success and relevance on the response and feedback from its customers and how integral the Authority s website and databases have become to their businesses. When interviewed for the Authority s soon-to-be-published history, Scott Swafford, chief credit officer at United Bank in Barnesville, spoke of the website s ease of navigation as one of the many benefits. Having used the system for more than ten years to research UCCs, deed records, and more, he notes that the bank s entire lending force and their assistants now access the site daily as well. Read his comments below. The GSCCCA s website is an efficient tool for those in the banking industry. It also has made banks more independent. We can do our own research instead of having to hire an attorney or another party to do the research for us. It gives us the ability to do our jobs more effectively, and it s a system that the clerks should be very proud of. Page 9

10 Images Added to Website Each year, millions of images are added to making it an even more valuable resource to our customers. During FY 2014, over 11 million images were added to the system for a fiscal year-end total of million. See the chart and bar graph below for more details. Images Added in FY 2014 Total Images 6/30/14 Deeds 8,737, ,111,117 Liens 1,572,380 14,470,333 Plats 102, ,549 UCCs 295,485 6,901,880 PT-61s 371,215 4,393,582 Total 11,078, ,734,461 Total Images in System (millions) Website Reliability The Authority places a high priority on providing its subscribers reliable, 24/7 service. Soon after opening, it was realized that any web-based reporting system had points where system failures could occur. In response, the Authority began distributing thousands of PCs, scanners and other equipment over 22,400 pieces of new equipment since opening its doors in 1995 to Georgia s 159 counties to ensure the quality of their equipment. The Authority systematically upgraded its network service and main data center, and continually takes preventive action to avoid service interruptions. Despite growth of 200 subscribers in 1999 to almost 15,000 subscribers today, over 374 million page views in FY 2014, and almost 220 million images online, the Authority has virtually eliminated downtime. Whether a user searches the records before lunch on Tuesday or at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, the Authority s database servers provide the search results in seconds. Page 10

11 The Authority is committed to the preservation of the data with which it has been entrusted and the public s access to it. To this end, the Authority established a fully redundant remote data center and brought it online in As a result, the public will be able to search the Authority s databases through without interruption, even if the Authority s primary data center is destroyed in a disaster. In fact, the Authority routinely operates from its remote data center during scheduled maintenance in order to prevent users from experiencing downtime during necessary maintenance. Financial Overview The Authority receives no appropriated funds from the legislature of the State of Georgia. Its primary source of funding is through the Real Estate Deed fee. There is a $10 fee to file a deed with a clerk of Superior Court in Georgia and the Authority receives $5 from this fee. These fees, in addition to subscription fees for access to the Authority s statewide indexes, provide the majority of the funding to operate many of the Authority s programs. The Authority s revenues have been significantly impacted over the last several years, and FY 2014 was no exception. The first half of the year showed promise with what looked to be an uptick in the housing market. However, the second half of the fiscal year reflected very low revenues as demand for home loans plunged. Recent reports reflect that mortgage lending declined to the lowest levels in 14 years during the second half of the Authority s fiscal year. As mortgage rates rose, homeowners pulled back sharply from refinancing, and there was little demand for new loans. FY 2015 looks to be a year of uncertainty, and the Authority will need to be nimble in reacting to the potential for significant financial challenges. FY 2013 Year-end Audit Completed by Mauldin & Jenkins Received an unqualified clean opinion from Mauldin & Jenkins for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013 audit. No audit adjustments were proposed by the auditors. Coordinated all requests with auditors from Mauldin & Jenkins & Georgia Department of Audits. Monthly Financial Information Provided accurate and timely monthly financial statements, along with an executive summary, to the Authority s executive director and board members helping facilitate informed decisions in uncertain economic periods. Provided quarterly financial reviews at all board meetings. Completed monthly reconciliations and review of all general ledger accounts to ensure proper recording of financial data included in the monthly financial statements. Updated fixed asset database monthly for all asset additions and dispositions. Aggressively managed GSCCCA subscriber accounts to help boost a collection rate of 98%. Sent monthly past-due collection letters to help reduce the amount of bad debt write-offs. Ensured timely deactivation of past-due accounts to help reduce the amount of charges that can be incurred by delinquent subscribers. Page 11

12 Accounting Information: Total active subscriber accounts as of June 30, 2014: 14,682 This includes 2,291 Premium Search accounts. Average monthly direct access subscription revenue as of June 30, 2014: $198,711 Single-use subscription revenue through June 30, 2014: $72,330 Number of monthly check payments processed through June 30, 2014: 17,158 Purchased $669,717 of equipment through June 30, 2014 for 69 counties as part of the Authority s statewide equipment replacement program. Deed image fees remitted to clerks offices through June 30, 2014: $812,732 ($12.3 million for deed images since inception of project) Returned to clerks offices $4,981,000 for prints ($.50 per print) off the Authority website through June 30, (Returned approximately $35.9 million since inception of project.) The FY 2014 break-down for prints is as follows: o Liens $241,200 o Plats $170,470 o R/E $4,403,265 o PT-61 $48,773 o UCC $117,292 Administrative Executive Document Management Imaging Program During FY 2014, the Authority continued an Executive Document Management Imaging Program providing for searchable electronic documents used by management on a recurring basis. Relevant Attorney General Opinions and other administrative and management documents were scanned, keyword, topic/subject metadata indexed and made available to Authority management. This project is ongoing. Page 12

13 Divisions Notary Public Division In 1997, the Authority was asked by the Georgia Secretary of State to begin maintaining the central database of notaries public. This project contains the following elements: Maintenance of a central database of all active notaries public (approximately 160,000). Issuance of apostilles and notary certifications. (An apostille is an international certification of a public document for use in another Hague Convention country.) In 2004, the Authority developed Notary Online with three goals: To make the processing of notary applications more efficient in clerks offices, To allow counties immediate access to their notary filings and images, and To simplify the notary application process for the public. Through the Authority website, the public has free access to search Georgia s notary database. An individual desiring to be a notary public in the State of Georgia can obtain an application from the clerk of Superior Court of the county in which he/she resides. 123 or 77% of Georgia counties are now providing web-based, notary applications using software developed by the Authority. Serving a vital role in international commerce, the Authority was recognized in 1998 by the U.S. State Department as the only agency, outside of a Secretary of State office, to issue apostilles. The Apostille Treaty is an international treaty (of which the U.S. is a signatory member) that provides for a simplified method of authenticating documents for use in other countries. It certifies the origin (i.e. country) of the public document by authenticating the signature and seal of the issuing public official. Currently, 106 countries participate in the Apostille Treaty, and approximately 4 million apostilles are issued worldwide on an annual basis. During FY 2014, the Authority s Notary Division: Continued to maintain the statewide notary database. A statewide total of 43,400 notary commissions were issued by clerks of Superior Court and then submitted to the Authority for inclusion in the statewide database. Issued 30,000 apostilles destined for 86 different countries. These documents originated in 132 different Georgia counties. Issued 145 certificates of authority, primarily for use in Puerto Rico. Served 9,100 walk-in customers; processed 3,700 mail-in requests; and answered 9,000 phone calls. Continued promoting Notary Online with 82% of notary applications submitted electronically to the Authority via the Notary Online application system. Participation in the program increased to 123 counties. Added 4 new counties (for a total of 63) who use scanned clerk signatures making commission generation faster and more efficient. Page 13

14 Added a feature on the Authority website to allow ordering the Notary Handbook online and paying by credit card. Before this feature was available, a person had to mail a form and check or come in person to the Authority office to purchase the Notary Handbook. Since adding this feature, handbook sales have increased from 800 to 1,000 this fiscal year. Monitored bill to rewrite Georgia s notary law. The Authority board appointed a committee comprised of board members, industry experts and Authority staff, and charged the group with making the revisions to notary law. The goal is to modernize Georgia s notary law and to bring it in line with the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts as promulgated by the Uniform Law Commission. A bill based on the group s work was introduced during the 2014 legislative session but did not make it out of the House. The bill will be reintroduced during the 2015 legislative session. Conducted Notary Online training for clerks of Superior Court, multiple notary public training classes for the general public, and a presentation on notary public law and the role of the notary for the Association of Paralegals of Georgia. Fines & Fees Division Legislation was passed in 2004 which established a new funding mechanism for indigent defense. The Authority was mandated to collect, account for, and disburse to the state treasury and/or beneficiary funds the new and existing fees being collected. Additionally, the Authority was mandated to develop data on the collection and disbursement of all court fees being collected by the over 1,100 courts throughout the state. Court fines and fees had been added incrementally over many years and little accountability or standards for their collection existed. To fulfill its new obligations, the Authority established a new division to handle the mandates of the legislation and promulgated rules and regulations to enable the collection of new and existing fees. Information now provided by the Authority s Fines & Fees Division allows policy makers to make more informed decisions as they formulate future legislation. In 2006, the Authority developed and began offering a Fines & Fees Online Training course to help educate court personnel, private probation companies, clerks and their staff on the reporting of fines and fees and how to comply with the law. The online course enables the different courts and others with an interest in the court fee system to train their personnel at a time of their choosing and save travel costs. The course is updated annually to include legislative changes. Since being entrusted to oversee court fines and fees, the Authority has: Developed a website, to support court compliance with the law. Created uniform reports. Provided statewide training. Issued guidance to all parties affected by the bill. Created an online calculator to help courts properly calculate and assess fines and fees. Developed internal accounting systems to support the indexing and processing of these fees to ensure that collection data can be timely and accurately made available to the public. Page 14

15 In FY 2014, the Authority s Fines & Fees Division: Collected and disbursed approximately $95 million in court fees, a high level of collections during a slow economic period. Performed semi-annual court reviews on approximately 1,100 courts to help ensure the accuracy of the data being reported to the Authority. Maintained a compliance rate of close to 100% for all courts through a dedicated and consistent notification system. Processed more than 30,000 monthly reports submitted by reporting entities. Continued to hold operational costs to well under the statutory limit of $500,000 for the tenth year in a row. Upgraded and consolidated the Fines & Fees environment into our virtualized server infrastructure to improve performance and reliability. Through its efforts to provide accountability and uniformity to the collection of court fees, the Authority continues its leadership in providing court information to the public. Projects UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) Project With the passage of legislation in 1993, the State of Georgia established a statewide system for the indexing of Uniform Commercial Code documents. When the Authority began operation on January 1, 1995, Georgia became the first state in the nation to privatize this traditional state function by outsourcing the indexing of the instruments to a third-party vendor. Personal property is recorded as a UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) Financing Statement. The purpose of this recording is to provide public notice that personal properties have outstanding liens against them. Under the Authority s system, a secured party need only file in one county to receive statewide notification of his lien position. When a filing is presented to a local clerk of Superior Court, the clerk has 24 hours in which to transmit the UCC document to the Authority and the Authority then has 24 hours in which to add the filing to the statewide index. Before 1995, it was necessary to file in all 159 Georgia counties to receive statewide notification. The Authority s central index provides secured parties with greater protection while saving them both time and money. In an effort to stay at the forefront of technology and meet the changing needs of users, the Authority successfully launched its UCC efile site to the public in 2010 and began accepting UCC documents for electronic filing. Since the pilot project began in May 2009, over 118,000 UCCs have been electronically filed, and as of June 30, 2014, 78 counties were participating. During FY 2014, the Authority: Drafted new UCC Administrative Rules that were adopted by the Authority board. This was done in consultation with other jurisdictions and in conjunction with the July 1, 2013 effective date of SB 185 (UCC Amendments to Article 9). Page 15

16 Published new UCC forms to and edited website content to reflect changes effected by SB 185 (UCC Amendments to Article 9) which included updating UCC rejection reasons and revising the clerk view of the UCC acceptance panel to accommodate the new reasons. Conducted training specific to the new UCC forms mandated by the passage of SB 185. Conducted webinars for Superior Court clerk personnel, banks and the legal community on UCC legislative changes. Indexed and added to over 227,000 UCCs. Conducted over 6,300 Certified Searches. Continued promoting UCC efile with over 58,000 UCCs electronically filed during FY Continued the redaction of SSNs listed on UCCs in an effort to help prevent fraud. Continued to offer an online UCC Training course. Fielded numerous UCC inquiries supporting staff, clerks offices, the banking industry, private law offices, and the general public. Since opening in 1995, the Authority has indexed and added to its database over 5.1 million UCCs (approximately 22,000 per month) and conducted over 221,000 Certified Searches. The Authority provides free, statewide access to its valuable database through search terminals installed in all clerk of Superior Court offices. Additionally, the system allows internet access by subscription for parties desiring the convenience of searching the indexes from their office or home. Real Estate Deed Project In 1996, legislation was passed in Georgia that required the Authority to develop a consolidated database of the official real and personal property records of all 159 clerks of Superior Court. With this mandate, the Authority created a one-of-a-kind system with no direct cost to the State of Georgia. When the system became operational on January 1, 1999, the public gained unprecedented free access to information within the office of the Superior Court clerk through search terminals installed by the Authority. Additionally, the business community gained 24-hour, seven-day-a-week desktop access to official land records through the Authority s website, (by subscription). The Real Estate Deed Project contains the following elements: Computer access to real property deed indexes of all 159 counties. Integration of all 159 counties into an online statewide system. Implementation of standards for data files, fields, and index data. Standardization of all printed indexes statewide. Since passage of the enabling legislation, the Authority has developed and implemented the only statewide intranet network in state government. The system started collecting data from all 159 clerks of Superior Court on January 1, This data includes the name of the seller and buyer of property, the location of the property, the book and page where the actual deed or property record is filed in the county, and cross index information to other related records. Searches can be performed by name, book and page, property location, or instrument type, and can be done by county, region (i.e. a county plus all counties that border it) or statewide. Additionally, images of the corresponding records are constantly being added to the online system. Page 16

17 The Authority added over 8.7 million deed images to the system during FY 2014 to bring the total to over 193 million deed images in the system. Revenue generated from the printing of images from the system is returned to the clerk s office where the original document resides. Since launching the project, the Authority has paid Georgia clerks offices over $12.3 million for deed images (almost $813,000 in FY 2014) and over $34.4 million for real estate-related prints including liens, plats and PT-61s made from (over $4.8 million in FY 2014). This money, over $46.7 million, is an important source of additional funding for Georgia s clerks of Superior Court. In 2004, a new feature was added to the system: access to Real Estate Transfer Tax forms (PT-61s). This new feature has added even more valuable information to the real estate system. The Authority worked with the Department of Revenue, the Department of Audits, and the Real Property Section of the State Bar of Georgia to bring this project online. (See the section on the PT-61 Project for more information.) At the end of 2011, the Authority successfully launched Real Estate efile statewide. Clerks retain control of the process, and their participation is completely voluntary and at no charge. During FY 2014, 10,389 real estate documents were efiled in 12 participating counties. Below is a summary of efforts during FY 2014 to support and enhance the Real Estate Deed Project: Made improvements to processes that monitor incoming real estate data for completeness and accuracy. These processes help ensure income data stays synchronized with local courthouse data and create a complete record of real estate document filings. Continued using software and monitoring procedures to detect land record data that is not in conformance with the Indexing Standards for Real and Personal Property Records for the State of Georgia. This is intended to highlight possible errors in the index data for deed records thus extending the Authority s ability to check the accuracy and ensure the quality of existing and incoming deed records. Tens of thousands real estate, lien and plat data records and images have been reviewed throughout the fiscal year through automated and manual processes. Continued the administration of the Authority s Indexing Certification Test resulting in clerks, deputies, and private vendor personnel becoming certified by the Authority to index real and personal property records in accordance with the Indexing Standards for Real and Personal Property Records for the State of Georgia. Thus far, 39 clerks and deputies from 17 counties have completed the Indexing Certification. Conducted personal training classes and offered multiple online courses to train clerks and staff across Georgia on the Indexing Standards for Real and Personal Property Records for the State of Georgia. Continued efforts to certify the land record recording computer systems of private vendors that are used by clerks for compatibility and compliance with the Authority s data collection system and the Indexing Standards. One new vendor achieved certification for their land record recording system in FY Provided continuous troubleshooting of issues relating to the deed, lien, and plat filings of all clerks of Superior Court and the transmitting and storage of the related index data to the Authority. Provided ongoing telephone and assistance, available to all clerks of Superior Court, regarding the proper indexing of land records in accordance with the Indexing Standards for Real and Personal Property Records for the State of Georgia. Page 17

18 Historical Deed Re-Indexing Project In 2002, the Authority launched the Historical Deed Re-Indexing Project with the goal of adding land records from Georgia s 159 counties that were filed before the central collection system was implemented to the Authority s online system. (Gwinnett County was the first county to accomplish this feat with a good-from date of 1871.) To support this project, the Authority developed further Indexing Standards guidance to help address the challenge of applying current indexing standards to real and personal property records that were locally recorded before the advent of statewide indexing standards. The project is complex and challenging as the Authority requires the complete re-indexing of these older land records in conformance with current Indexing Standards so as to create a cohesive record with current data in the system. All indexers performing this re-indexing must pass a Deed Indexing Certification Test developed by the Authority, and collected data is quarantined or held in a queue until quality checks are completed. After passing the quality control checks, the data is released to the Authority s website for public access. The current statewide good-from date is The cost to add each additional historical year to the database is approximately $3.6 to 4.5 million dollars. The project, previously suspended for lack of discretionary funds resulting from the recent recession, was re-opened in FY 2014, and a formal program was launched to complete the deed indexing project for all incomplete indexing and imaging for the year 1992 so as move the inclusive range of deed data back to 1992 for all counties. Agreements were put in place with authorized vendors chosen by the clerks for the completion of the 1992 data. All twenty-four participant clerks offices and their chosen vendors cooperated with the preparation of formal docket surveys which are reviewed by the Authority for the issuance of indexing and imaging guidance so as to minimize conflicting data and image issues as the project moves forward. Although not fully recovered to its revenue levels of 2007, the Authority is optimistic that it will be able to open the project back to further years in the future. County-Funded Historical Deed Re-Indexing Project Last year, the Authority developed and implemented a County-Funded Historical Deed Re-Indexing Project allowing clerks on their own initiative and funding to image and re-index their property records for inclusion in the Authority s system. Twenty counties have begun participating in this program which allows additional index and image data for deeds, liens, and plats at the clerk s option. Participation is completely voluntary at the election of the clerk of Superior Court. Highlights of the program include the documentation and comprehensive analysis of all county books and dockets along with the issuance of indexing guidance for the prevention of unintentional book naming conflicts. The result of the process provides an indexing roadmap for all future historical indexing for the clerk as well as awareness of the importance of consistency for current indexing. In FY 2013, in just a few months of operation, over 103,000 deed instruments from four participating counties were added to the Authority's website. And in FY 2014, over 435,000 additional deed and plat instruments (index and associated images) have been added from participating counties. As a result of this program, the public has access to additional real estate information at no additional cost to the Authority, and clerks offices have the opportunity to generate additional funding through print image fees initiated through the Authority s website. All print revenue is remitted to the clerks offices. Many more instruments are expected to be added in the future. Page 18

19 Lien, Plat & Map Project When H.B took effect in January of 2004, in addition to grantor/grantee deed records, clerks of Superior Court were also required to transmit to the GSCCCA all real property, lien, map and plat indices and, whenever required or applicable, digital images. The Authority worked to certify all existing vendors, train clerks of Superior Court, and provide necessary equipment. New scanners and PCs were distributed to counties and bandwidth (both locally and at the Authority) was increased to accommodate this project. In 2011, the Authority increased storage capacity of the system to handle the influx of new data. The storage arrays were increased from 36 terabytes to a current capacity of approximately 71 terabytes. The Authority also designed and developed a standard that can be used to electronically file state tax liens directly from the Department of Revenue to the GSCCCA, and subsequently to the counties. Historical Plat & Map Project The Historical Plat & Map Project, the most requested new project from users, has been authorized by the Authority board and will proceed as funds become available. Plat and map historical indexing standards are being developed, so when funding is available, the project will move quickly to catch up to the Historical Deed Re-Indexing Project. The goal is to take plats and maps back as far as historical deeds. PT-61 Project Launched in September of 2004, PT-61 e-filing is a collaborative program between the GSCCCA and the Department of Revenue to provide a more efficient process for filing a Real Estate Transfer Tax form (PT-61 form). Rather than completing a multi-part paper form, the new system allows the filer to log onto from his/her office and complete the form online. The program provides for the more efficient transfer of tax data to the DOR and local tax assessors via weekly electronic reports. With the 2012 launch of the Authority s Premium Search account, users have additional search and view options related to PT-61 data. The Authority also integrated PT-61 form generation with the Real Estate efiling process. By combining these two separate systems, efilers save time and records are filed faster and more accurately. During FY 2014, the Authority returned $48,773 to clerks offices for prints ($.50 per print) off the Authority website related to the PT-61 Project. Premium Search Account In January of 2012, the Authority launched a Premium Search account with new search and view options for the Authority s valuable statewide indexes. Based on suggestions from subscribers, the premium account allows users to: Page 19

20 Pinpoint the property for which they are searching by simply entering the street address. Browse PT-61s for a specific day, week, or month. Search Real Estate by county and instrument type. Page through documents. View data in a variety of new options. Access data through a mobile application using GPS data. During FY 2014, the Authority: Increased the number of Premium Search accounts by 27.8% for a fiscal year-end total of 2,291 accounts. These accounts represent over $692,000 in additional revenue for FY 2014, and over $1.16 million in additional revenue since the account was launched. These numbers will grow in the coming years as the Authority continues to market the Premium Search account. Added numerous features and fixes to the Premium Account s Map Search application for the iphone, including a larger display screen for iphone 5 compatibility. This mobile app provides the most up-to-date and accurate real estate sales data in the state of Georgia, and is the ONLY mobile app that provides real-time sales data based on the official source of property transfer tax data in Georgia. The Clerks Authority Map Search Application is available to Premium Search subscribers for free. Increased addresses searchable in the Clerks Authority Map Search application by 166,256 properties for a fiscal year-end total of over 1.83 million addresses, making the Map Search app even more valuable. The Premium Search account makes accessing the Authority s database an even more valuable tool for realtors, bankers, attorneys, surveyors, appraisers, and other members of the business company. See the comments below from real estate appraiser Bruce Hill who has used the Authority s website for years. THANK YOU sooooo much for enabling this search! I m a real estate appraiser and work many small, rural counties where there is no MLS. Your site is invaluable in searching sales in these counties. If you are a business professional and you are not a Premium member, you are missing out on valuable information, available right from your desktop. The GSCCCA is meeting the needs of various industries that rely on online data. Data Archive Project (MyVault Archive Service) In 2007, the Authority began offering MyVault Online Archive Service in an effort to help clerks of Superior Court protect their irreplaceable public records in the event of a simple hard-drive failure or a larger disaster at the courthouse. MyVault is designed to provide local and offsite backup of electronically stored data, and is carefully managed and monitored daily. The service is offered free-of-charge to all clerks, but to participate, the clerk must agree to include all real estate data in the nightly backup. MyVault is currently protecting over 413 million files totaling more than 51.7 TBs of data, 14 TBs more than FY The Authority continues to perform proactive data auditing to reduce the amount of redundant data that must be stored. Even as the vault has grown and more new data has been archived, the Authority has been able to proactively and effectively manage storage space and cost. Page 20