It is not every day Lawrence County officials can spend $15,000 with the potential to make $450,000, so when the opportunity arose Tuesday, the commissioners jumped at the chance.

The commissioners approved a plan by Lawrence County Treasurer Stephen Dale Burcham to purchase a new computer system that will allow for faster processing of real estate tax payments made with personal checks.

Burcham said the new computer, printer and scanner will allow his staff to electronically scan and process checks, enabling his office to deposit them faster and get that money credited to county accounts more quickly.

This is the kind of processing many banks and other businesses now use. Instead of taking paper checks days or even weeks to go through the banking system, the new system will allow nearly immediate deposit of funds.

With it, the office can make deposits as late as 8 p.m. By processing checks faster and collecting funds more quickly, the treasurer's office will be able to invest that money sooner, meaning more money in county coffers. The new computer processing system will also save money by reducing

the cost of fees banks charge the county for handling transactions.

&#8220I estimate it would reduce bank costs by $200 a month to process,” Burcham said. &#8220For 15,000 it would enable us to have next-day processing. We will be able to process them (the checks) as they come in. I estimate this will increase investment income by $80,000 to $90,000 a year every year.

Burcham said he hopes to have the new system in place by the end of the year and ready to use by the first half tax collection in February.

&#8220I want to commend you on the improvements you've made to your office,” Commissioner George Patterson said.

&#8220You've tried to make it more efficient and make more money for the county and I commend you for that.”