Parties spar on who pays for elections
Democrats want county to bear costs

By Anthony Farmer   Poughkeepsie Journal   07 October 2005
A battle is brewing over whether towns and cities in Dutchess County will be forced to pay the county for its takeover of all elections operations, beginning next year.

Either way, the impact on local taxpayers would likely be negligible and more a matter of which pocket the money is coming out of ? their town tax bill or their county tax bill.

But with all 25 seats in the county Legislature up for election in November, the political rhetoric is ratcheted up.

Democratic candidates are calling the idea of local governments continuing to pay for a portion of the costs of running elections an unfunded mandate.

One Republican running for re-election called the idea of the county shouldering the full burden of all election costs "silly."

Several Democratic candidates for county and town offices held a press conference outside the county Board of Elections office in Poughkeepsie Thursday calling for county government to fully fund the cost of running elections out of its own budget.

"We oppose attempts by the Legislature to charge back those costs to the town," said Vicky Perry, a Democrat from Red Hook running for county Legislature in District 20. "We ask the Legislature to rule out charge-backs."

Legislator disagrees

Perry's opponent in the Nov. 8 election, incumbent Legislator Marc Molinaro, R-Red Hook, said to preempt the legislative committee's review and forgo any possibility of sharing the costs with the localities would be "silly." The costs can be shared without unfairly burdening town and city governments, he said.

"I'm not sure any real thought has gone into this proposal; it is odd," Molinaro said of the Democrats' call. "There should be an open, honest discussion about this so we can ensure equity."

In 2006, county governments in New York will take full responsibility for running elections. Up until now, towns and cities were responsible for hiring and paying elections inspectors and for the care and upkeep of voting machines, among other things.

2000 led to reforms

The new regulations are an outgrowth of national legislation approved in the wake of the 2000 election controversy in Florida.

Instead of ruling out such charges to local governments, county Legislature Chairman Brad Kendall, R-Dover, on Wednesday decided to have the Legislature's Government Services and Administration Committee review the changes necessitated by the election reform legislation and associated costs.

The panel should focus on how the costs of running elections are currently shared and what options for funding are available going forward, Kendall wrote in a memo to committee Chairman James Hammond, R-Town of Poughkeepsie. The views of mayors and supervisors, as well as town clerks, should also be considered, Kendall wrote.

Dutchess County Republican Elections Commissioner David Gamache said the new requirements would at least double his department's budget for next year, from the current $840,000.

Having a centralized elections operation should lead to overall savings, Town of East Fishkill Supervisor Peter Idema said. Cities and towns sharing some of those costs is not unreasonable, as long as it's done fairly, he said.

"I certainly hope it would not be more expensive than the current system," he said.