Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Election Payroll topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
LaSalle County clerk says vendor file errors delayed election-judge pay, vendor will run sample to prevent repeat
Summary
County clerk Jen told the committee that a new vendor payroll file lacked itemized fields required by IT and the auditor, delaying election-judge checks; IT and auditor staff said a corrected file was expected by 10:00 a.m. and the vendor will perform a sample run with county staff.
LaSalle County Clerk Jen reported to the April 21 committee that a conversion problem with a new vendor's payroll file prevented the auditor from issuing election-judge checks on the usual timetable. The clerk said the vendor's file arrived this month with essential fields bunched together, omitting individually itemized entries the county's accounting system requires, such as base pay, class pay, test pay, mileage and precinct identifiers. Jen said the vendor expected to correct the file around 10:00 a.m. and that the county would then send the file to IT for conversion and onward to the auditor to cut checks.
The clerk described a months‑long transition to a new voter‑registration and payroll system because the county's previous software was no longer supported. "It was all bunched together," Jen said of the vendor file; "IT needs it broken out, and the vendor didn't have it." County IT staff told the committee they received an incomplete file on Friday, immediately flagged the missing fields and sent samples back to the vendor for correction. "As soon as we got the file, we went back to Jen saying, 'hey, this file is wrong,'" an IT staff member said.
Board members pressed the clerk and IT on vendor selection and accountability. One commissioner asked whether the county should seek reimbursement if the vendor's shortcomings caused the delay; Jen said she had spoken with the vendor's main contact and that the vendor will come onsite to run a sample election and work with county staff to eliminate the hiccups before the November election. "They're going above and beyond to help out," Jen said, adding the vendor will perform a sample run and meet with county staff to confirm fixes.
The committee also debated whether election judges should receive 1099s or W‑2s. County staff said IRS guidance is being reviewed and that shifting to W‑2s would increase HR workload because it would require producing hundreds of additional forms. "We are taking a look at that," a county staffer said; "the IRS may have a different opinion." The clerk said the office will notify judges and the public when checks are ready and plans a press release to radio and newspapers.
Next steps: the clerk will confirm when corrected payroll files are accepted by IT and the auditor, issue public notice when checks are mailed, and coordinate the vendor's onsite sample run to test the payroll conversion workflow.
