TheItem.com Printer Friendly Version

This is a printer friendly version of an article from The Item.com
To print this article open the file menu and choose Print.

Close

Article published: Feb 9, 2005
County to accept voting machines
Council hopes state commission will cover $169,000 shortfall payment

A string of letters are set to spring from the hand of Sumter County Council, it decided at its meeting Tuesday.

Chairman Louis Fleming will write the State Election Commission to accept 283 electronic voting machines, with the caveat that accepting the machines doesn't mean council intends to make up a $169,000 shortfall.

Sumter County Registration and Election Director Pat Jefferson reported that Marci Andino, the state executive director, wants a letter from council before she will deliver the machines.

Although some members feared that writing a letter accepting the machines would amount to accepting the bill — with Councilman Charles Edens going so far as to say he'd rather use paper ballots in 2006 than pay the balance — council decided it could craft a letter accepting the machines but not the bill and await the state commission's reply.

Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, all voters must vote using electronic voting machines by 2006. The federal government offered incentive money to help pay for the machines if counties would start using them in 2004, earlier than the 2006 deadline.

The local election commission decided it couldn't train its poll workers on the new machines in time for the 2004 elections and opted not to use them. In response, county council voted not to pay for the shortfall created when the state returned the federal incentive money to the federal government.

At the time of the vote in August, the shortfall was reported as $185,000. It's not clear why the shortfall is now $169,000.

The incentive money was part of the $1.1 million cost to purchase the machines.

Fleming will also be writing to the city of Sumter, asking council members there to take some action on the memorandum of understanding concerning the Sumter County Development Board.

County council passed an ordinance in November restructuring the board. Council asked the city to sign the MOU because the city provides one third of the development's board budget.

City council, however, is hoping the ordinance can be revised again to put some elected officials on the board and to require a monetary contribution from the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce, which has two seats on the board.

Elected officials will not be on the development board, Fleming said.

The county sees recruiting and promoting efforts stagnating because it doesn't want to hire more staff for the development board until the MOU is settled. The city believes the county rushed the ordinance and thought the county would spend more time talking to the city before passing the final version.

Finally, Fleming will write a second letter to the city informing council that it has looked into every aspect of Wateree Community Action's request for new space and suggested the organization approach the city.

Currently, the county provides the group with a building rent-free at 13 S. Main St. The building is in poor shape, County Administrator Bill Noonan said, and would cost more than its value to repair.

The county doesn't have any other building space. Councilman Ronnie Eldridge suggested Wateree Community Action approach the city about taking over the City-County Planning Commission building, if the planning commission moves to the Liberty Center as planned.

In other business:

Roger Long gave the county an unqualified opinion on its annual financial report for fiscal year 2004. Because of the good report, the county got a new bond rating and was able to get the library bond at a lower interest rate than last year's bond, Long said.

"The financial report is a significant event each year," Noonan said. "It says you're fiscally sound in what you do."

Noonan and council thanked Finance Director Jeanette Mixon and Budget Analyst Pam Craven for their work with the budget.

"Your financial situation is sound and in the hands of two sound, good people," Noonan said.

Council approved a lease-purchase arrangement of up to $550,000 for renovations and improvements to the Sumter County Museum and the Sumter County Cultural Center building.

The money will come from the hospitality tax of 2 percent on prepared food and drink in the county.

Contact Staff Writer Leslie Cantu at lesliec@theitem.com or 803-774-1250.