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Blufftown weighs one-year interlocal election agreement with county after cost revisions
Summary
Councilmembers reviewed a revised interlocal agreement from San Juan County to run Blufftown elections for one year. The county’s reallocation of fixed costs reduced the town’s estimated share to about $8,000, but officials expressed concern about paying for county staff time and tight timelines if the town chose to run its own election.
Councilmember Lynn DeSosa said Blufftown received a revised interlocal memorandum of understanding from San Juan County to provide election services for one year and that county staff had reallocated fixed costs, reducing Blufftown’s estimated share to roughly $8,000.
Davis and staff discussed practical constraints and deadlines if Blufftown were to run its own election. Councilmembers noted the primary is Aug. 12 (county primary date) and that, if Blufftown were to operate its own elections for the November cycle, ballots would need to be finalized and ready to print by Sept. 12 to meet production and administrative timelines. Staff said the county will provide polling interpreters and the town requested more frequent ballot-box pickups; county practice had been to clear ballot boxes only at the end of a voting period, and the town asked to change that to weekly pickups for better security and transparency.
Councilmembers objected to portions of the cost allocation that charge the town for county employees’ time but recognized the scheduling constraints make it difficult to stand up a town-run operation for this election cycle. Staff said the one-year MOU gives Blufftown time to explore alternatives — such as teaming with another jurisdiction or building in-house capacity — before committing to a longer-term arrangement. The council scheduled a special meeting to consider final approval and to authorize staff to pursue follow-up questions with the county about ballot-box procedures and cost details.
