City OKs Salt Lake County interlocal for 2025 municipal election as cost concerns surface

The Murray City Council voted on April 1 to authorize an interlocal agreement with Salt Lake County for county-managed services in Murray’s 2025 municipal election, after staff presented security upgrades, staffing changes and sharply higher cost estimates compared with recent municipal elections.

Brooke Smith, the city presenter, told the council the county will provide a broad suite of services including ballot layout, printing, mailing and delivery, tabulation equipment, post-election audits and secure daily custody procedures for drop-boxes. Smith said the county now employs 24-hour camera surveillance for drop boxes and retains that footage for about a year in response to “recent real and perceived threats,” and that the county has switched from volunteer retrieval of ballots to sheriff’s deputies retrieving ballots daily.

Smith said the county provided cost estimates with a wide range depending on how many jurisdictions hold primaries. To give the council a cushion she recommended budgeting $270,000 for the city’s election; by comparison, staff told the council Murray’s annual recent election costs were roughly $63,400 and roughly $60,000 for the last mayoral election. Smith explained the county’s interlocal policy is to charge “the actual direct cost plus overhead” for services, and the final invoice will reflect actual accrued costs.

Smith also provided local statistics: the city has about 28,500 active voters and four municipal offices to be elected in 2025; annexation may add roughly 50 voters. The county’s estimate depends on whether primaries run (some jurisdictions use ranked-choice voting) and whether Murray will be designated as an early voting center.

Council members pressed staff about the increase; one councilmember cited the county’s earlier advice to “do it yourself” if jurisdictions want to avoid rising county pricing. Several members expressed concern that the county’s later invoicing of actual costs could materially exceed the city’s budgeted amount, and Smith acknowledged the final charge will be billed based on actual county costs. Smith recommended authorizing the interlocal agreement so the county can proceed to provide the logistical and security services required to run the election.

The council approved the resolution on a roll call recorded as unanimous in favor.

What’s next: the county will proceed with election planning and billing under the interlocal contract. Smith said the city will receive a final invoice after the county calculates direct and overhead costs; staff recommended the city budget to the higher estimate to avoid shortfalls.