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Lancaster County boards approve election printer move, $1.2M Motorola purchase and fleet replacement
Summary
At its Oct. 21 meetings the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners approved a lease-assumption for the election commission’s high-speed printer, authorized a $1.2 million notice to proceed for Motorola radios and body cameras, and approved a $320,434 order for seven police vehicles; the Board of Equalization approved several tax-exemption and valuation items.
Lancaster County officials on Oct. 21 approved a series of routine contracts and procurement actions intended to support elections, public safety and reentry programming.
The Board of Commissioners approved an agreement with the Food Bank of Lincoln to provide "Getting Ahead While Getting Out" reentry workshops to inmates at county corrections. County staff said the contract carries no cost to Lancaster County and will be part of the county’s reentry programming.
Todd Wilton, Lancaster County election commissioner, explained a lease-assumption agreement that will move a specialized, high-speed printer used for election poll books from Information Services space into an area dedicated to election operations. "Before each election, we have to print the poll books, which is 21,000 pages," Wilton said, adding the new printer prints about 90 pages per minute versus roughly 30 for the current unit. The board approved the lease-assumption and the printing arrangement will be paid from the election commission’s budget.
The board also approved a notice to proceed to purchase radio communications equipment and body-worn cameras from Motorola Solutions for a total price of $1,200,000. Lancaster County Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said staff worked with Motorola, the county attorney’s office and appropriations staff to lock the contract price. He said the purchase is tied to federal appropriations and that, if the county does not receive the funding, it is not obligated to complete the purchase: "What we've done is work with Motorola to have this contract and lock it in so we know what the price is ... If we do not get the money, we do not have to purchase the equipment." The board approved the notice to proceed.
Purchasing also recommended a purchase order to Anderson Ford Auto Group for seven Ford Police Interceptors totaling $320,434. Sheriff's office staff said getting cruisers earlier than in past cycles will help replace vehicles that have reached high mileage and are experiencing maintenance issues; commissioners approved the order.
On the consent agenda the board approved several routine contracts and grant awards, including amendments to a medical-services contract with Wellpath LLC for the youth services center; a snow-and-ice removal contract with K2 Construction; right-of-way payment(s) totaling $1,365 for property on West Little Salt Road/NW 12th Street; and two $100,000 agreements (one with Educare of Lincoln and one with A Heart for the Clinic) tied to child-care assistance and clinic programming. The consent agenda was approved as a single vote.
The Board of Equalization, which convened following the commissioners meeting, approved an assessor-initiated correction to assessed valuations for Kawasaki Railcar Lincoln Incorporated and Kawasaki Motor MFG Group after staff determined certain improvements had been assigned to the wrong parcel. Assessor/Register of Deeds Brian Grim said the correction redistributes value among parcels and does not change overall assessed value.
The BOE also held three public-hearing items. The board moved to remove tax-exempt status for a vacant lot associated with Vine Congregation Church after staff said ownership transferred to a private individual and the parcel is no longer owned by the exempt entity. On an appeal by Roger and Ruth Morrow of a rejected 2025 homestead exemption application, Assessor staff said the application was received Aug. 5 (after the June 30 deadline and the extension cutoff of July 20) and was unsigned; staff recommended against forwarding it for state review but noted the applicants’ statutory right of appeal under state law. The BOE voted to forward the Morrow appeal and application to the state for review; the board explicitly did not approve or deny the exemption itself. The BOE also approved motor-vehicle tax-exemption applications for Bryan Medical Center, Clyde Malone Community Center and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.
Most motions were routine and passed by roll-call votes. Public comment periods for both meetings produced no public speakers. The commissioners announced a staff meeting for Oct. 23 and the next regular board meeting for Oct. 28, 2025.
Meeting documents and contract details are available at lancaster.ne.gov; the boards meet in Room 112 of the County-City Building and livestream meetings on the county’s channels.
