The Warren County Commissioners are considering an increase to a fee charged for each deed transfer that happens in Warren County.

It’s the fee that covers the cost of the Uniform Parcel Identifier (UPI) program that assigns a unique identifier to each parcel. It’s a way to ensure that a property being sold is, in fact, the property being sold.

Chief Assessor Brian Bull said the fee since the program was implemented in 2008 has remained at $10 and that he and Register & Recorder Lisa Burkhouse are recommending the fee be increased to $20.

Bull said that change “aligns with all the other counties” and said the identifier was initially adopted because too many deeds had incorrect information. The process, he said, ensures that things like the grantor name, municipality and property description are accurate and that all real estate transfers in the county are run through the process.

Solicitor Nathaniel Schmidt said the “idea” for the increase is to “cover the cost for the time to accurately assess the property.” He said it can be a “little bit of a time consuming process.”

UPI is a “good way to catch things not done correctly,” Burkhouse said.

The commissioners were set to discuss and potentially implement the increase during Wednesday’s meeting but Commissioner Ben Kafferlin said the change must be advertised before implemented.

He said the item is likely to be on the agenda for the first commissioner’s meeting next month.