Recorder of deeds seeking sixth term
Washington County Recorder of Deeds Debbie Bardella, who has worked for decades in the row office, is seeking a sixth four-year term.
Bardella, 62, of Speers, plans to file for the Democratic nomination in the May 16 primary.
The office maintains real estate records, including deeds and mortgages, plus oil and gas leases. The recorder of deeds is also responsible for collecting real estate transfer taxes.
“I’m the only row office that does e-recordings,” Bardella said. The office deals with firms that electronically transfer copies of deeds accompanied by deposits of transfer taxes and recording fees. Banks and entities from outside the county use the service, which now includes 30 percent of total deed transactions. “It basically gets rid of paper,” the recorder of deeds said, since the process began in 2010 through an act of the state Legislature. Those using the service pay no additional fees to the county, but customers of the service pay the providers.
Bardella said her office continues to preserve historic documents going back to the formation of Washington County in 1781.
“I think that’s vital,” she said. “We used to have a lot of genealogists come through. They do everything online now. We don’t see the people, but we know they are accessing these documents.”
Over the centuries, the ink on handwritten documents has faded and pages are getting brittle, but Bardella’s office collects a $5 recording fee that the Legislature enacted for a records-improvement fund. Her office retains $3 per document, and it contributes the remaining $2 to the Washington County Records Improvement Fund.
Bardella also serves as director of the county Tax Revenue Department, an appointed position for which she receives no additional compensation.
The Washington County recorder of deeds position pays $82,774.
Bardella graduated from Avella High School in 1972, the same year she went to work in the recorder’s office as a clerk-typist. Bardella became assistant deputy recorder and deputy recorder before winning the elected office in 1997.