Committee forwards off‑cycle election fee schedule to full Board to recoup costs

Lindsay Burriss and Ramona Carpenter, Lewis County election commissioners, presented a proposed Off‑Cycle Election Fee Policy to the General Services Committee intended to standardize charges for elections that fall outside state primary and general election days and to recoup direct administrative costs.

Burriss said local election administration has become more complex and costly following federal requirements under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), pointing to provisional ballots, statewide registration databases, voter ID and accessibility requirements that increase staffing and technical needs. The proposed uniform price schedule is designed to recover direct costs — for example, ballot programming and testing, staffing, technical support, consumables such as seals, legal advertising and mail processing — and to charge requesting entities rather than shifting those costs countywide.

Committee discussion covered mechanics in the draft schedule: a $250 per‑machine charge, consumable charges, print‑on‑demand ballot fees and example invoices for villages and schools. Participants discussed logistical options, including moving municipal elections to November or municipalities running elections independently or purchasing machines. Legislator Joshua Leviker moved to forward the draft resolution to the full Board; the motion was seconded by Legislator Michael Hanno and adopted by the committee 4–0.

The draft schedule will be included in a resolution and considered by the full Lewis County Board of Legislators.