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Elections office used primary grant but projects $38,000 shortfall for rest of year
Summary
Elections officials said a state grant covered primary-election costs but that the office now projects roughly $38,000 in shortfalls and will need an appropriation to finish the year.
An elections official told commissioners that a $209,000 grant for the primary election covered specific items — primarily poll-worker staffing and poll books — but that the office still projects a shortfall of about $38,000 for the rest of the year.
The official said the grant was restricted to election-specific costs and therefore could not be applied to other shortfalls. "In that grant, we used 209,000. It was specific to poll workers' poll books," the elections official said. The office also said it must retrain staff on new voting equipment that has been authorized for use in the upcoming election, which will increase short-term training costs.
Commissioners and staff questioned whether similar grant funds will be available next year and whether the office should budget differently for off‑year or gubernatorial election cycles. The elections official said no guarantee of a comparable grant exists and warned the board that recurring costs for poll workers, mandated training and ballots mean the office’s budget does not shrink automatically in an off year.
County staff agreed to provide more-detailed line-item projections and to coordinate transfers or appropriations if needed. The elections official asked the board to consider a $38,000 transfer to cover the immediate projection; no appropriation was made during the meeting.
