As May’s primary election inches closer, the city of Columbus is preparing to do something it has never done before — reimburse Bartholomew County for the costs of overseeing a city municipal election.
The new arrangement, which was approved by the Columbus Board of Public Works in September, allows the county to charge the city for certain election-related expenses, including meal costs for poll workers, rental of polling places, election advertising, overtime wages for voter registration staff, among other expenses.
The only expenses excluded from the agreement are the salaries of Bartholomew County clerk and deputy clerk staff and voting machine maintenance, according to Jay Phelps, Bartholomew County Clerk.
The agreement is based on requirements in the Indiana Code that governs municipal election expenses.
“This is just to help the county,” Phelps said. “The county has less taxable resources than the city does.”
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
