To: Board of Supervisors
From: Kristin Connelly, Clerk-Recorder
Report Title: APPROVE the commutation of the Elections Capital Replacement Fund to an Elections Technology Fund. No Fiscal Impact.
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE the commutation of the Elections Capital Replacement Surcharge assigned fund balance designation to an Elections Technology Surcharge fund balance designation.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The current assigned Elections Capital Replacement Surcharge fund balance designation is approximately $3.8 million. Broadening the designation to encompass “elections technology” will help the department manage the costs of election system software and vendor support in addition to hardware costs. Technology fees will be charged to local jurisdictions for each election and reserved to cover these costs. Fee rates will be adjusted based on projected expenditures over the ensuing five years.
BACKGROUND:
The Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department is proposing to convert its existing Elections Capital Replacement Fund into an Elections Technology Fund. The original fund, established in 2016, was created to finance the periodic replacement of the ballot tally voting system. The proposed change aims to broaden the scope of the fund to include both the cyclical replacement of capital equipment and the payment of ongoing annual operating costs for elections technology and infrastructure, such as annual software licensing, maintenance, and warranties. This change is intended to stabilize the Division's budget by distributing these significant technology expenses more evenly over the four-year election cycle, offsetting the loss in revenue during non-election years.
Currently, jurisdictions that consolidate their elections with county elections (city, school, and special districts) pay their pro-rata portion of actual election costs based on a formula that considers the number of registered voters in each district and the number of contests or measures on those ballots.
The Elections Division maintains a billing model to recover the total actual costs of conducting an election as described in Elections Code section 10520. After every election, the Division bills each participating jurisdiction for its portion of directly chargeable or reasonably allocated costs. The existing elections billing model includes an estimated cost to replace necessary voting systems. The new Elections Technology assigned fund balance designation would continue to be funded in this manner but would also permit the funds to be expended on elections systems software, maintenance, warranties, and licensing: the ongoing required expenditures and overhead necessary to conduct elections.
The ability to maintain up-to-date voting systems and software is fundamental to serving the constituents of Contra Costa County effectively and efficiently. Since the establishment of this fund in 2016, state and federal grants have become inconsistent. By broadening the existing Elections Capital Replacement assigned fund balance designation to an inclusive Elections Technology Fund assigned fund balance designation, we can help balance annual spending from the General Fund.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
The Elections Division will be unable to use funds in the Elections Capital Replacement Reserve for expenditures other than capital asset purchases, resulting in the use of the annual general fund operating budget to pay for these required expenditures.