REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 27, 2023
FROM
CHRIS WILHITE, Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk
SUBJECT
Title
Partner and Template Memoranda of Understanding with the Owner Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego for use of the Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment Electronic Recording Delivery System and Government to Government Portal
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve a Partner Memorandum of Understanding with the Owner Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego, including non-standard terms, for the use of the Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment Electronic Recording Delivery System, in an amount not-to-exceed $900,000, effective upon execution, for a term of five years.
2. Direct the Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk to transmit the fully executed Partner Memorandum of Understanding to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of execution.
3. Approve a template Memorandum of Understanding with the Owner Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego for the use of the Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment Government to Government Portal for the electronic submission of documents by County departments to be recorded with the San Bernardino County Recorder, effective upon execution, for a term of five years.
4. Authorize the Directors of County departments to execute the template Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of their departments, when needed for access to the Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment Government to Government Portal.
(Presenter: Chris Wilhite, Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk, 382-3208)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). Revenue for the Partner Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) services is generated by fees collected pursuant to Government Code Section 27397. The estimated total cost for the Partner MOU with the Owner Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego (Owner Counties) is not-to-exceed $900,000. The annual estimated cost is $180,000 in 2023-24 through 2027-28. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk (ARC) 2023-24 Recorder Electronic Recording (3110002344) budget and will be included in future recommended ARC Recorder Electronic Recording (3110002344) budgets.
The Lead Agency (County of Orange) for the Owner Counties will bill the ARC an annual maintenance fee of $0.30 per recorded document that is transmitted through the Statewide Electronic Courier Universal Recording Environment (SECURE) system in the previous calendar year, as reported to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, pursuant to Section 27296 of the Government Code. There is no cost for County departments to use the SECURE Government to Government (G2G) Portal.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Recorder-County Clerk Division of ARC is responsible for accepting electronic transmission of recordable documents through an Electronic Recording Delivery System (ERDS) and recording the received documents electronically. The Electronic Recording Delivery Act of 2004 (ERDA) allowed counties to accept specific digitized records for recording from authorized submitters, such as title companies, lenders, and government agencies. The Owner Counties entered into an agreement to share the ownership and ongoing maintenance of a multi-county ERDS called SECURE. SECURE is compliant with the ERDA.
On April 7, 2020 (Item No. 13), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved a Partner MOU with the Owner Counties for the use of the SECURE ERDS for the period of April 7, 2020 through August 18, 2023.
On June 23, 2020 (Item No. 19), the Board approved a template MOU with the Owner Counties to allow County departments to record documents electronically using the SECURE G2G Portal for the period of June 24, 2020 to August 18, 2023.
The Partner MOU is the Owner Counties’ Board approved agreement, which includes terms that differ from the San Bernardino County’s standard contract and omits certain County standard contract terms. The non-standard and missing terms include the following:
1. The County will indemnify, defend and hold the Owner Counties harmless for any claim occurring by reason of the negligent acts, omissions, or willful misconduct of the County in connection with any work, authority or jurisdiction delegated to the County relating to the Partner MOU.
• The County standard contract does not include any indemnification or defense by the County of a contractor.
• Potential Impact: The County would be responsible to defend and reimburse the Owner Counties for costs, expenses, and damages, which could exceed the total Partner MOU amount.
2. The Partner MOU does not require the Owner Counties to meet the County’s insurance standards as required pursuant to County Policy 11-07.
• County policy requires contractors to carry appropriate insurance at limits and under conditions determined by the County’s Risk Management Department and set forth in the County standard contract.
• Potential Impact: The Partner MOU does not include County standard insurance requirements. This means that the County has no assurance that the Owner Counties will be financially responsible for claims that may arise from the County’s participation in the Partner MOU, which could result in expenses to the County.
Approval of the recommended Partner MOU, including non-standard terms, and template MOU will allow ARC and County departments to improve County government operations and operate in a fiscally-responsible and business-like manner by partnering with a group of locally-based Southern California like-sized counties to facilitate electronic recording within an existing ERDS. ARC will also benefit from participating in a multi-county system as opposed to purchasing and maintaining a separate system, or participating in an ERDS that is not locally based.
Approval of Recommendation No. 2 will facilitate the Owner Counties’ requirement of having Orange County, on behalf of the Owner Counties and as the Lead Agency, be the final agency to sign the Partner MOU. The agreement will be in effect for five years from the date of the Lead Agency’s signature. Once the Partner MOU is fully executed, the ARC will transmit it to the Clerk of the Clerk of the Board within 30 days of execution.
Approval of Recommendation No. 4 will allow County departments to execute the template MOU for use of the G2G Portal on behalf of their individual departments. The template MOU approved by the Board in 2020 has not been changed. It is being recommended for re-approval because the Board’s approval for County departments to use this template will expire on August 18, 2023.
PROCUREMENT
A competitive process was not utilized for these MOUs because SECURE is the only ERDS in Southern California composed of counties that are like-sized to San Bernardino County. The Purchasing Department supports these MOUs and agrees with ARC’s decision to continue partnering with the Owner Counties for the use of the existing SECURE ERDS.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Kaleigh Ragon, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on May 17, 2023; Purchasing (Michelle Churchill, Supervising Buyer, 387-2070) on May 22, 2023; Risk Management (Victor Tordesillas, Director, 386-8621) on June 1, 2023; Finance (Penelope Chang, Administrative Analyst, 387-4886) on June 5, 2023; and County Finance and Administration (Paloma Hernandez-Barker, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on June 9, 2023.