The incumbent Sangamon County Recorder has taken issue with his opponent’s recent proposal to consolidate the office with the Sangamon County Clerk’s Office.
Incumbent Democrat Josh Langfelder issued a statement Friday saying that his Republican challenger Frank Lesko’s proposal to consolidate the two offices is sharing misinformation.
Langfelder says that Recorder’s Office is a fee-generating office that doesn’t operate off of property taxes like other county offices do. According to Langfelder’s statement, The Recorder’s office generates fees collected for its services and in turn, returns anywhere from $600,000 to up to $1 million to other County offices for their operations each fiscal year. In the last two fiscal years alone, the Recorder’s office has generated revenue of $2.1 million dollars while operating under budgets totaling $985,000; returning to the other County departments over $1.1 million dollars.
Langfelder’s statement classified Lesko’s proposal as a “lie” that show’s his opponent’s campaign “cleary doesn’t know how the Recorder’s office operates.” Langfelder says that by consolidating the office, it opens the county up to more fraud, removes accountability, and jeopardizes the integrity and security of property ownership.
Langfelder has encouraged the public to call his office to inquire more about operations at 217-415-0086.