A combination of COVID and low interest rates combined for a record year at the Clarion County register and recorder’s Office.
County revenue collected by the office was up 12% from $283,080.91 in 2020 to $315,855.36 in 2021, according to register and recorder Greg Mortimer.
The 2021 total also marked a 22% increase from the 2019 total of $259,254.93 in the pre-pandemic days, Mortimer added.
Mortimer said substantial increases in property transfers, probated estates, and marriage license applications resulted in the busy year.
“The last two years saw the first large increases in document filings since 2003 with the exception of a slight uptick in recordings during the Marcellus shale boom in 2012 and 2013,” Mortimer said.
Mortimer pointed to the exceedingly low mortgage rates this past year as well as a more home and family centric population due to the pandemic in speculating on the large increase in recordings.
Mortimer is also the register of wills, and he said that as a direct result of increased COVID deaths, the office saw a record number of probated estates filed.
Overall, there were 415 register of wills and clerk of orphans court filings during 2021, a 47% increase over the 283 filings in 2020.
This was the 34th year the office has returned a surplus to the county’s general fund.