DATE: February 22, 2022
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: James A. Kus, County Clerk/Registrar of Voters
SUBJECT: Budget Transfer for Purchase of Fixed Asset
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Clerk of the Board to execute Budget Transfer No. 40 transferring FY 2021-22 appropriations within the County Clerk - Elections Org 2850 ($601,763), from Account 7295 (Professional and Specialized Services) to Account 8300 (Equipment) for the purchase of a polling location hardware and an election management server.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will transfer existing FY 2021-22 appropriations from Services and Supplies account 7295 (Professional and Specialized Services) to Account 8300 (Equipment) to provide sufficient funding for the purchase price of polling location hardware and an election management server. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended action is not approved by your Board, the Department will be unable to purchase the equipment, which will hamper the Department’s ability to efficiently administer elections and maintain adequate capacity for in-person voting during future elections.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action Budget Transfer No. 40 is recommended to transfer FY 2021-22 appropriations in the amount of $601,763 from Account 7295 (Professional and Specialized Services) to Account 8300 (Equipment) for polling location hardware and an election management server. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the County Clerk Org 2850 FY 2021-22 Adopted Budget and will be included in future budget requests. Purchase and maintenance costs are fully reimbursable with State and Federal grant funds.
DISCUSSION:
The Department’s proposed purchase consists of three types of equipment: one PowerEdge R640 election management server, 30 Dominion ImageCast Evolution vote center ballot tabulators and accessories, and 50 Mobile Ballot Printing Kits for use in county vote centers.
The election management server supports the Dominion election management system, which is a set of applications for ballot design, ballot adjudication, tallying results, and reporting results. A server is only able to manage one election at a time. Concurrent elections have been called in 2021, 2022, and are anticipated to increase in frequency in the upcoming years and an additional server is needed to manage them. The Department first rented an additional server in late 2021 to accommodate the Gubernatorial Recall and two local elections with overlapping timeframes. The Department now finds itself in a similar situation with the Congressional District 22 Special Primary Election and Consolidated Special School District Election in April 2022 and the June Statewide Direct Primary Election. The purchase of a server will enable the Department to avoid frequent rental costs should this situation occur in the future.
The purchase of 30 ImageCast Evolution tabulators includes accessories, license, and hardware for three years. The department anticipates additional registration growth within the next ten years which will require the deployment of new vote centers and tabulators. The additional units will also allow the department to designate a portion of the tabulators as training and contingency equipment. Finally, concerned citizens have voiced a preference that the Department maintain tabulators in a state which preserves election data for as long as possible after an election. Depending upon the election calendar and departmental equipment needs it can be extremely challenging to maintain tabulators in such a state for an extended period. The purchase of additional machines will allow the department to satisfy this public demand without compromising the administration of subsequent elections.
The purchase of 50 Mobile Ballot Printing Kits provides additional capacity for voter registration growth and contingency units in case of malfunction. The printers receive heavy use in the vote centers and have performed well over several major elections. Considering their level of use the department believes it prudent to purchase backup machines for future deployment. Purchasing these units now will allow the department to maintain a designated set of equipment for training.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Budget Transfer No. 40
CAO ANALYST:
Raul Guerra