MOUNT VERNON — The director and four board members of the Knox County Board of Elections met with county commissioners on Thursday to discuss the department’s budget for 2008. The commissioners had already forwarded a proposed budget totaling $364,565 to the board of elections, which requested the meeting in order to ask for higher figures than what the commissioners had projected in five of the budget’s 13 categories.
Director Rita Yarman was joined by board members Bill Moody, Jim Zak, Carol Sue Owens and Bill Eagon. Moody opened the discussion by explaining that the 3 percent increase requested in the salary category reflected their desire to offer a competitive pay rate to a valued employee they felt they might otherwise lose.
Moody then moved on to the subject of poll worker salaries. This item was more contentious as the 2007 expenditure was less than $57,000, leading to a proposed 2008 appropriation of $58,000, while the board of elections was requesting $95,000. Moody said that commissioners’ initial figure did not take into account the additional activity the board of elections would be undertaking in a busier election year than 2007 was. Moody compared their request to the expenditures in 2006, which were over $94,000.
Commissioner Allen Stockberger pointed out that though 2006 was a busier election year than 2007, it also featured a special congressional election which accounted for part of that additional expense, something which is not expected to happen this year. Moody countered that there were also extensive costs expected with training poll workers for the presidential election this year. Owens added that this was the case particularly as regards the primary election in March, because many of their poll volunteers are “snow birds,” elderly residents who go south for the winter. According to Owens, this will force the board of elections to recruit and train additional volunteers for the primary. Moody pointed out that another factor inflating this budget figure was the recent increase in the minimum wage.
On the matter of supplies, the board of elections requested that the commissioners more than double the budget figure from $11,000 to $25,000, matching 2006 levels.
“Every election since they started no-fault absentee voting, our supply costs have gone up because more people are voting by absentee ballot,” said Yarman. She said that this increases the amount of forms, envelopes and printing they must supply. She said that the board of elections has moved to doing more printing on demand, but a recent directive from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office may require that certain levels of printed paper forms be kept on hand for voters who want to vote manually instead of by computer. For that eventuality, the board also requested an increase in the advertising/printing category from $15,000 to $27,000, as Yarman said they would not be able to print enough on demand if the state requires ballots be on hand to cover up to 10 percent of the number of eligible voters in the county.
“Since we can’t anticipate what the state will do, let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Stockberger.
The board also requested an increase from $30,000 to $48,500 for contract services, such as software support.
Stockberger said that with the relative softness of the recent economy, the county received $800,000 less in income in 2007 then projected.
“It’s a time of belt-tightening,” he said, adding that it was nothing personal if they would not be able to approve all the board’s requests.
Commissioners’ president Tom McLarnan said that he was in favor of giving the board of elections the additional funds to cover the salary request to keep the valued staff member, but that he thought the other requests could be reduced.
The elections officials thanked the commissioners, and board member Jim Zak requested that the commissioners encourage local businesses to allow employees to have time off so that they can help out at the polls on election days.
Afterward, the commissioners met and determined that they would accept the board’s recommendation of the revised salary figure. They did not accept the full amount of the board’s recommendations for the other categories, cutting the poll worker salaries request by $20,000, supplies by $10,000, and the services category by $8,500. They rejected any increase in advertising and printing outright. This moves the total board of elections budget from the previously proposed $364,565 to $398,615. These figures will only become final once the official budget for the year is adopted, something which the commissioners hope to achieve before Jan. 11.
Kim Marshall of the Knox County Park District then joined the commissioners to request their approval to apply for more grants to support improvements to the Heart of Ohio recreational trail. A current grant request pending with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is due to be announced next week, but Marshall suggested that they not wait for those results before getting the ball rolling on the next round of grants, or else they might run out of time before submission deadlines. She also said that she would recommend reapplying because current grants are getting more competitive, with smaller awards coming through.
The commissioners agreed that they should apply for the next round of ODNR grants, and should apply for the next round of Ohio Department of Transportation grants, as well. They asked Marshall to call Pat Schwann of Richland Engineering, who has worked extensively with the park district on the trail, in order to arrange a collective meeting to begin the process.
