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. r She understood that, at the request of Mr. Zorc, Ms. Smith had done some research that revealed there are only a few counties (Indian River being one) that have their records closed. Dawn Smith of Representative SemblerIs office advised that most larger counties have their records open to the public. Chairman Macht stated that certainly is inconsistent with what we have been told and flies in the face of the law if we have been rightly informed about the effect of the law. Commissioner Adams believed there are less than half a dozen counties which have their records closed. Chairman Macht requested the County Attorney to research the issue, and County Attorney Vitunac ady,sed that, his office had talked personally to the Attorney General's Office who had given them a written opinion saying Property Appraiser Nolte was following the law correctly. County Attorney Vitunac was amazed to find out 63 other counties chose differently and advised he will call the Attorney General's Office again. Commissioner Adams expressed thanks to Dawn Smith for her efforts on behalf of the County and its citizens and commended her for being very responsive to requests. Director Baird suggested the County should be actively involved in a task force on court costs in an effort to help get court costs back up to the State level. This is a local financial hardship and it makes for hard feelings between the judges and the County. The County should not be paying these costs but does when the State will not pay and we are trying to limit the costs. County Attorney Vitunac advised that Commissioner Carolyn Eggert is not in favor of #3 allowing optional sales tax funds to pay off old bond debt. Director Baird questioned whether the Board wanted to include the partial year assessment item, and Commissioner Adams advised that FAC has included that item as #1 on their list. Commissioner Adams noted that Item #5 is listed as "interim services fees", and Director Baird advised that should be corrected to read "partial year assessments". Commissioner Adams reminded the Board that they had determined interim services fees were illegal but felt that would be a logical next step if the partial -year ad valorem tax is not available. Administrator Chandler stated that a special committee had reviewed interim service fees and found there to be so many hurdles involved that it would be next to impossible to manage. However, if partial year assessments are not addressed by the legislature, we do have that alternative available to us. BOOK 96 mu -311 OCTOBER 10, 1995 27