Auditor again asks for ballot tabulator

County commissioners on Monday again heard a request from county Auditor Eunice Coker about purchasing an election tabulator machine and undergo training in time for the general election in November.

Although the commissioners recognize that the new machine is needed in the department, they don’t know now where the money would come from.

The county will need to make an amendment to the current year’s budget to make the expenditure before the general election.

County finance manager David Ledbetter told commissioners that the auditor’s department has $20,000 in a reserve fund to pay for the new tabulator this year and can budget another $20,000 next year, but the county’s general fund must cover the rest of the cost, $31,326 each year over the next two years.

The new tabulator price has been quoted $111,600, plus $3,500 for installation and training costs, along with a $500 scanner. The supplier will allow a $12,848 trade-in to cut the total cost to $102,662. No interest will be charged to the county.

“We’d like a positive reaction from each of the commissioners,” Coker said.

Although the commissioners acknowledged the need for the new machine, they told Coker they can not make a decision about a budget amendment now and will not make a decision until September.

“We don’t know how many budget amendments will be coming in,” Commissioner Art Swannack said.

“We can’t not get this,” Coker said. “We’ve got to upgrade our equipment.”

The two tabulators in the elections office are 10 years old. Ledbetter said the office will purchase one new machine, trade in one of the old machines and use the other old machine as a backup. Over 10 years, the office will have enough money in the reserve fund saved for a new machine.

Budget amendment hearings for county departments are scheduled to begin in August.