Council approves interlocal agreement with Carbon County for election services

Schofield Town Council on April 7 approved an interlocal agreement for Carbon County to provide election services for the town, continuing the county’s role in printing ballots, stuffing mail ballots and handling election administration.

Town staff told the council that many election materials require minimum production quantities — a constraint that makes it impractical for a small municipality to run its own elections. Staff said the county has handled past elections for the town and now requires a signed interlocal agreement to formalize the arrangement. A staff member summarized the request as: “they now need this interlocal agreement signed, just kind of crossing T’s and dotting I’s.”

Staff discussed cost factors: the county charges the town for materials and services used, and costs vary depending on whether a primary is required and on the number of candidates. Town staff said the town’s share for the most recent election was about $2,250 for services that included ballots, mail preparation and counting. County staff also offered to coordinate with nearby Emory County, which can print small quantities of ballots, if the town needs a limited number of ballots printed for a primary.

Councilmembers said the agreement simply formalizes what the county has been doing and that the county will invoice the town directly for its portion. The council made a motion to accept the interlocal agreement; the motion was seconded and approved during the meeting.

The agreement and the discussion did not specify a final per-election price; staff said costs will depend on the number of ballots and whether a primary is required.

Votes at a glance: council moved and seconded acceptance of the interlocal agreement with Carbon County to provide election services for Schofield; the motion carried (tally not read into the record).