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Clerk outlines elections, passport demand and equipment replacement costs in FY26 budget presentation
Summary
City Clerk Chris Swope presented the Clerk’s Office budget, citing lower election costs in a non-city-election year, stronger passport demand, a move to a new Lansing Elections Office on Jolly Road, and an anticipated $750,000–$1 million equipment replacement need when voting equipment reaches end of life.
City Clerk Chris Swope presented the Clerk’s Office proposed FY26 budget at the Committee of the Whole meeting on April 21 and answered council questions about elections costs, passports, equipment replacement and parking allocations.
Swope said election-related costs are lower in FY26 because it is not a city election year; savings include reduced pay for election inspectors, overtime and temporary help. He told council the Rio Elections Office lease will end partway through the year and the elections staff will move into a new Lansing Elections Office on Jolly Road.
Swope said passport demand has increased and staff have been running special passport evenings; when he entered the building there were about "30 people in the hallway working on getting passports this very evening." He also flagged a likely long-term capital expense: the voting equipment purchased in 2017 (funded largely by Help America Vote Act funds) has an expected 10-year life and the state is running an RFP process that likely will require new equipment in 2027; Swope estimated an anticipated replacement cost of roughly $750,000 to $1,000,000 and said the city has sought state cost-sharing but currently expects local responsibility.
Council members pressed Swope about an apparent jump in a parking line item from $6,000 to $13,500. Swope explained parking charges were being reconciled with Parking Services and that prior lists had included employees who were no longer with the city; parking charges were intentionally overbudgeted to avoid shortfalls while the department scrubbed accounts. He said the city’s shift to charging parking costs directly to individual departments should give departments clearer visibility and speed corrections.
On recurring vendor costs, Swope said the Clerk’s Office pays an annual maintenance/service fee to the vendor that supports election equipment software and that the annual maintenance amount is about $50,000. He also described ongoing capital budgeting for precinct laptops and computer replacements.
Swope said the Clerk’s Office has not proposed new programs in FY26, expects to maintain current services and does not currently include any new federal funds in the proposed budget.
What’s next: Swope said the Clerk’s Office will continue to reconcile parking charges with Parking Services, monitor passport demand, and refine long-term funding options for equipment replacement.
