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Clerk presents 2026 budget: slight increase driven by document storage contracts and election costs
Summary
Debbie Stewart, county clerk, told the council her 2026 general-fund request totals $699,867. She also proposed increases to the perpetuation fund to cover document-storage (Document Mountain) contracts and raised election-year line items in anticipation of two 2026 elections.
Debbie Stewart, Howard County Clerk, presented the clerk’s 2026 budget to the County Council on Aug. 26, requesting a general-fund total of $699,867 and describing targeted changes to the perpetuation and election budgets.
Stewart said the clerk’s general-fund budget will be similar to 2025 with one transitional position removed and a $5,000 reduction in office supplies. The perpetuation fund is rising roughly $11,650, driven by higher maintenance-and-service contract costs from a vendor the clerk identified as Document Mountain; Stewart said monthly invoices are about $4,553.79 and that she has paid those from perpetuation to date. She said she reduced the part-time salary line and equipment repairs where not needed.
Stewart also outlined election costs for 2026, a county election year. She told the council she increased absentee-voter-board salaries from $30,000 to $60,000 to staff 15 vote centers, increased printing and envelope costs to cover primary and general elections, and raised the Verizon ‘jet-pack’ communications budget to $5,000 to support 15 activated hotspots during voting. Stewart said she plans modest catering for Election Day workers and that her net increase for the clerk’s budget from 2025 to 2026 is $18,500. Council members commended her office’s work and smooth administration of past elections.
