Clark County posts clean audit; elections director proposes 10¢ per‑voter CARA fee to fund $2.2M election equipment needs

Clark County officials reported July 30 that the county’s 2024 financial statements received an unqualified opinion from the State Auditor’s Office and that the county had no audit findings or management‑letter items. County staff also presented second‑quarter 2025 budget results and a condensed popular annual financial report the auditor’s office will distribute to libraries and post online.

"Once again, there are no findings from the state auditor's office," said Greg Kimsey, Clark County auditor, while presenting the annual comprehensive financial report. Kimsey noted the report received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 38th consecutive year and recommended councilors review the management’s discussion and analysis section for a concise summary.

On the second‑quarter financial update, county finance staff reported property‑tax revenue was up about 2% year-to-date and that year-to-date sales tax receipts showed a slight decline driven mainly by a single drop in March. Staff identified the construction sector as a notable source of weakness in sales tax receipts compared with prior years. Salaries and benefits were roughly 50% expended for the year; staff said a recent settlement had been budgeted in contingency and moved into salaries when the amount became known. Several councilors asked staff to avoid continuing to call the settlement the "Me Too settlement" for public communications; staff and one councilor recommended referring to it as "wage adjustments."

Staff also discussed fund-level items: the road fund showed the expected pattern with property tax timing; community‑development subsidies from the general fund have declined as fee increases are implemented to recover costs for land‑use and wetland review; and the public‑safety sales tax fund revenues and expenses are tracking around the expected midyear marks. The auditor’s office said it will place printed copies of the Popular Annual Financial Report in county libraries and has posted a linked online version.

Elections infrastructure shortfall and proposed CARA charge

Rich Cooper, Clark County elections director, told the council the elections office expects to need about $2.2 million in capital purchases over the next nine years to replace aging equipment including sorting machines, voting tabulation systems, ballot boxes and related infrastructure. Cooper said the office has confirmed with the State Auditor’s Office and the Secretary of State that a billable capital asset replacement charge is an allowable expense to pass to jurisdictions that use county election services.

To cover those needs without asking the county general fund to make the entire contribution, Cooper proposed a Capital Asset Replacement and Acquisition (CARA) charge billed to jurisdictions when they run a ballot measure or hold an election. The initial modeled charge is 10¢ per voter; Cooper said the county has obtained roughly $254,000 in grant funds so far and expects that as purchases are completed the per‑voter charge can be reduced. "To show to illustrate that, even our current projections, we project that CARA charge will go from 10¢ to 4¢ in 2033," Cooper said, adding that exact timing depends on purchases, grants and actual costs.

Cooper said the county would charge all jurisdictions the fee; because cemetery districts have very limited resources, the county is asking the general fund to subsidize CARA for the four cemetery districts, at an estimated average subsidy of about $2,400. Cooper provided a county-level projection that the county general fund’s annual average CARA share over the first ten years would be approximately $42,000 per year while other jurisdictions would cover about $1.6 million of the total $2.2 million need.

Councilors asked procedural and timing questions; several expressed support for jurisdictions paying a share rather than the county borrowing to make purchases. Cooper said the largest single item is the sorter machine (roughly $1 million) with a vendor‑recommended life of about 20 years and that the county hopes to avoid borrowing and instead accumulate a replacement fund. Cooper said the CARA proposal will be an agenda item at next week’s council meeting for formal consideration.

Votes at a glance

The council moved, seconded and approved the minutes of July 23, 2025; the motion carried on a voice vote with councilors present saying "aye." Chair Marshall said councilors Belcott and Fuentes were excused from the July 30 meeting.

Next steps

County staff will post the Popular Annual Financial Report in libraries and online; elections staff will present the CARA proposal for formal action at the next council meeting and will provide follow-up modeling and outreach materials for jurisdictions.