County to Raise Fees for Running Elections

The Fayette County Commissioners Court raised the fees that local governments pay the County to conduct their elections. Elections Administrator Donna Macik said those fees have not been raised in four years. In addition, she said Fayette County’s fees are much lower than other counties.

“I spoke with elections administrators that are the same size at our midwinter conference that I went to last week, and I found we are way below the average,” Macik said.

“How far off are we compared to everybody else?” asked Pct. 4 Commissioner Drew Brossmann.

“About 45 percent,” Macik said.

Macik said the County could charge up to 10 percent of the cost of the County’s elections equipment.

“Which would be $16,000, and of course, I’m not going to do that,” she said.

Instead, Macik proposed an increase of 10 percent above the current fees. The County charges cities, school districts, and other political subdivisions a fee to conduct their elections based on the number of registered voters. Small government bodies with less than 500 voters had been paying about $500 per election. They would see a $50 increase. Large political subdivisions with more than 3,500 voters were paying $4,500. Their fee will go up $450, to $4,950 per election.

“That sounds reasonable,” said County Judge Dan Mueller. “As you said, they haven’t gone up in four years.”

Pct. 1 Commissioner Jason McBroom asked whether the County should go up a small amount each year so the Elections Office can catch up with other counties.

“I haven’t put numbers to it yet, but I’d like two to three percent each year until we get in line with everyone else our size,” Macik said.

For now, the Commissioners unanimously approved Macik’s request for a 10 percent increase.