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City Clerk’s office keeps level funding; expands bilingual services and cross‑training
Summary
The Salem City Council committee recommended the City Clerk office FY26 budget after staff described expanded bilingual capacity, new virtual-translation tools, ongoing cross‑training and state system migration for death certificates. Personnel increases reflect union settlements.
The Committee on Administration and Finance on Thursday recommended approval of the City Clerk department’s FY26 budget totaling $398,026, including $384,156 in personnel and $13,870 in expenditures.
Maureen Fisher, assistant city clerk, described operational changes and service enhancements in the clerk’s office, including a newly certified bilingual staff member receiving a monthly stipend and use of a virtual-translator iPad system for in‑person counter interactions and polling places. Fisher said one employee passed the bilingual assessment and “now they’re gonna get compensated for it.”
Fisher explained the office has expanded acceptance of credit cards at the counter for most transactions, with the exception of some higher‑fee items where processing fees make card acceptance less practical; online requests remain limited to birth, death and marriage records. She also outlined a customer‑service training program run through the city’s insurer (Maya) and a state transition to the Maverick system for death certificates, which the office and funeral providers are still working to stabilize.
On staffing and operations, Fisher described a cross‑training approach that rotates staff responsibilities for births, deaths and marriages so the office can cover absences. She said most budget lines are level‑funded and that salary lines reflect settled union increases. “Everything else looks like it was pretty much level funded in that office,” Fisher said.
Councilor Stott moved the budget recommendation; Councilor Harvey seconded. Chair Merkel recorded two hands plus her own and the motion carried.
The discussion included operational details—translation capacity, polling‑day technology support and municipal-code printing costs—but no changes to ordinances or election law were proposed during the hearing.
