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City Clerk reports lower election costs, 10 campaign finance complaints and $127,000 in passport revenue
Summary
City Clerk Stephanie Carlisle told the Budget Advisory Committee that 2025 returned funds to the general balance due to vacancies and lower Arapahoe County election invoices; the office handled 10 campaign finance complaints, digitized 81,000 records and generated $127,000 from passport services.
Stephanie Carlisle, City Clerk, told the Englewood Budget Advisory Committee that the Clerk’s Office returned money to the fund balance in 2025 largely because of salary savings from staffing vacancies and lower-than-expected election invoices from Arapahoe County. "We did pretty well this year," Carlisle said in her presentation, noting fewer licensing hearings and some lost liquor licenses as contributing factors.
Carlisle said the office verified "over 1,500 signatures" on a citizen initiative and that the municipal election produced a larger-than-normal number of campaign finance complaints. "We had 10 of those this year during the election season," she said. Carlisle explained that the Secretary of State’s office no longer handles municipal campaign finance complaints and that the Clerk’s Office follows local code with an initial 10‑day review, a cure period for fixable matters, dismissal for invalid complaints and referral to a hearing officer when appropriate.
On administrative operations, Carlisle said staff digitized and uploaded more than 81,000 records into the city’s Laserfiche records repository. She also flagged an agenda-management need: the city implemented a digital voting system for council chambers that proved unsupported and flawed, and staff will search for a new system "to find a whole new agenda management system that would have digital voting."
On revenue, Carlisle reported the passport services program generated $127,000 in 2025 but said staffing vacancies limited appointment capacity. "We were just a couple thousand dollars short of hitting our projected amount for that year," she said, explaining part‑time staffing turnover and limited appointment windows.
Committee members asked for clarification on the lower elections invoice and budget planning for elections; Carlisle said Arapahoe County invoices are weighted by the number of jurisdictions and state measures in a given election and that the city traditionally budgets about $40,000 for elections but this year’s invoicing was lower. She said a supplemental appropriation will likely be needed for an upcoming special election.
The Clerk’s Office said it has begun, then paused, a code review of election procedures in partnership with the City Attorney and will reconvene the Election Commission to consider streamlining petitioning procedures where possible. Carlisle emphasized balancing charter provisions, local code and state election law in any changes.
What happens next: staff will continue the Election Commission review and return to the committee or council with recommended code amendments or a supplemental budget request if a special election requires additional funds.
