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County clerk warns passport revenue and election season staffing limit ability to absorb cuts
Summary
The county clerk said passport acceptance generates about $202,000 a year and that removing passport services or staffing could reduce revenue and public service; she offered options including modest passport-photo fee increases and restructuring positions but warned that the $35 passport application fee is federal and cannot be changed locally.
County Clerk (name recorded in the transcript as Bridal McKenzie) told the Budget Committee on June 26 that many core functions of her office are statutory (election administration, marriage licensing, notice and corporate registrations) while passport acceptance and certain front-office services are discretionary and generate meaningful revenue.
McKenzie said passport acceptance is roughly 25% of daily activity but brings in about $202,000 annually. For the stress-test exercise she was asked to identify about $55,000 in reductions from an operating budget just over $2,000,000. She outlined one-time 2025 savings (building improvements covered by state funds, equipment expected under budget) that reduce pressure but said ongoing payroll and even routine election overtime and temporary staffing for even-year elections could raise payroll by roughly $162,000 in 2026.
On fees, McKenzie noted the federal passport application fee of $35 is set by the U.S. Department of State and cannot be changed locally, but she proposed increasing a local passport-photo fee from $10 to $15; she estimated that change would raise roughly $39,000 annually if volumes held steady. She cautioned that cutting passport services would reduce revenue and public service access and that staff reductions risked losing certifications and reducing service quality.
McKenzie proposed converting one current full-time open position to part-time and other restructuring steps to absorb costs for two to three years. She invited follow-up meetings with commissioners to refine proposals and stressed the trade-off between short-term one-time savings and sustainable staffing changes.
