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County clerk seeks 7.3% budget rise and elections poll-book replacement; treasurer requests security door and warns of higher publication costs
Summary
Shawnee County Clerk Lisa Schmidt presented a 7.3% increase driven by personnel and insurance costs and described an elections poll-book replacement project that shows $2.3 million in current need (about $700,000 already reserved toward an estimated $3 million). Treasurer Susan Duffy flagged rising publication and cash-collection costs and requested a $9,000 secure door for the tax area.
Lisa Schmidt, Shawnee County Clerk, presented a 2027 proposed budget that reflects a 7.3% increase largely tied to personnel (MSA 1) and employee health-insurance cost growth. Schmidt said the clerk’s office reduced last year by 5% at the board’s request and has automated some accounts-payable processes with Central Square to reduce the need to backfill a vacated accountant position.
On elections capital needs, Schmidt said the elections office’s current capital-outlay display shows $2,300,000 for poll-book replacements and related server and software infrastructure. She clarified the full project estimate previously presented to the commission was about $3,000,000, with roughly $700,000 already set aside in prior allocations toward that replacement.
Treasurer Susan Duffy reported about $10,000,000 in uncollected taxes at the time of the hearing and summarized recent collection channels and volumes. She said the treasurer’s budget remains about 92% personnel and proposed a small intermittent staffing request to help during peak tax seasons. Duffy also warned of rising costs for legally required newspaper publication of delinquent notices, saying Metro News has notified her of anticipated price increases, and she asked commissioners to consider publication bids and statutory deadlines.
Duffy requested roughly $9,000 to install a secure fire-rated door and a keyless-entry system for the treasurer tax area so deputies can lock doors quickly in incidents and the office can better track building access. She said the door would improve staff safety and that facilities did not plan to fund the door as part of building projects.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about whether elections changes were driven by state software or statute; Schmidt said a recent change to the elections vendor (Elvis software) will increase costs but the poll-book request is not due to state-mandated replacement. No formal decisions or votes were taken; commissioners signaled they would consider these requests further in the upcoming budget process.
