Commission adopts new municipal election rate structure to set base plus per-voter fees

Millard County commissioners approved a revised rate structure Tuesday for municipal election contracts that county staff said will move the county away from charging strictly on a per‑voter basis to a hybrid model with a minimum fixed base fee plus per‑ballot charges.

County election staff explained in a spreadsheet presentation that the prior method — itemizing actual costs per invoice for each election — had been administratively intensive and could produce large variances depending on number of ballot cases, races and shared charges. The proposed model sets a new minimum fixed cost to cover base expenses for programming and systems and adds variable per‑ballot or per‑ballot‑case charges for shared or added costs.

Why it matters: Municipalities contracting with the county for elections gain predictable budgeting under a minimum fee plus variable charges. Staff said the change reflects actual vendor costs for ballot cases and software programming while trying to avoid overcharging smaller municipalities.

Staff described the spreadsheet calculations and indicated fixed costs would be shared if multiple municipalities hold the same election; staff proposed a minimum fixed cost not to exceed $2,800 as the base in their example and then variable charges depending on ballot cases, races and shared services. Commissioners voted to accept the new rate structure for municipal election contracts as presented.

Next steps: County staff will finalize the contract language and attach the fee schedule for municipal contracting; the county also intends to circulate an updated municipal election services agreement for ratification at a future meeting.