Committee approves $14,000 transfer from election training to salaries to cover poll-worker payroll

The Arizona City Council Committee on Ways and Means on June 2 approved a transfer of $14,000 from the election training account to the election salaries account to cover payroll for poll workers.

Malone Philistate, introduced as the elections director, told the committee that the city recently changed how poll workers are paid and that the funds previously used for vendor payments must be moved to a salaries line. “It was just as poll workers were paid out of that and now for, we have to change it to… the personnel,” Philistate said. When asked whether the office would return for more funds, Philistate replied, “We’re not going to come back. No.”

Council members asked whether any back pay was owed for prior elections; Philistate said everyone had been paid. The committee moved and seconded the transfer and approved it by voice vote.

The transfer was described as an internal budget reclassification — moving money from a training/expense account to a salaries account — to reflect the workers’ changed employment status. The committee excused the elections director after the vote.