This weekend, county registers of deeds from across the state will head to Boone for an annual association conference that is largely underwritten by vendors seeking business and the fee-paying public that’s on the hook for association dues and travel expenses.

Last year alone, the registers’ offices were required to chip in an additional $20,000 in public money to the N.C. Association of Registers of Deeds in the form of higher dues that for small counties nearly doubled what they previously paid. The $20,000 is expected to provide a fifth of the association’s estimated $100,000 in annual income for this fiscal year.

Here’s where some of that money gets spent: