County staff recommend purchasing cash-recycling machine to reduce cash-handling errors and save staff time
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Summary
County staff described a cash-recycling machine costing $48,500 with annual operating costs and said it would speed cash handling, improve security and could save the equivalent of roughly a half-time FTE.
County staff presented a proposal to purchase a cash-recycling machine for $48,500 to reduce manual cash-counting time, detect counterfeit bills and improve deposit security.
A staff member explained the device automatically counts bills and coins, checks for fraudulent bills and prints receipts, removing the need for clerks to manually count and recount cash at day’s end. The presenter said the machine could save about 15 minutes at both the start and end of each clerk’s day—adding up to roughly five staff hours per day, which the presenter described as roughly a half-time FTE and an estimated $30,000 a year in staff-time savings.
The one-time purchase price was given as $48,500. Ongoing costs include a $1,250-per-year software fee and a parts warranty option that would be $2,300 per year after the first year (the first-year warranty would be covered). The presenter said the county could consider an intercap loan to finance the capital cost and that vendor service is available regionally (a service person in Butte was noted).
Security and portability were discussed: the machine models in question weigh many hundreds of pounds and are not intended to be moved regularly, which staff said improves deposit security. Staff also said the machine could be used to accept and count coin-heavy deposits from other departments and immediately provide a receipt, reducing the staff time other departments now require from the clerk’s office.
No formal vote on the purchase was recorded in the meeting notes presented; the item was presented as a request and a rationale for adding the purchase to budget consideration.
