Countywide : Supervisors Increase Election-Related Fees

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to sharply increase fees for various election-related services and materials.

The fee hike is the first in four years and will double the price of some items offered by the registrar of voters.

The increase will be felt less by the public than by campaign consultants and candidates who use the data during elections.

Registrar Rosalyn Lever said the new fees were recommended after a lengthy review by her office and the county General Services Agency.

She said the fees reflect the cost of performing the various services, and that the county does not make a profit from the operation.

“The costs change over time,” Lever said. “Prices go up and prices go down.”

While most of the fees for 70 different services will increase, some will decrease, such as the price of absentee voter applicant files.

Lever said the fee increases are needed to keep pace with increasing overhead costs and rising employee wages.

The prices of some items, like microfiche cards containing the names of registered voters, will nearly double.

The fee government agencies pay to have the registrar of voters verify signatures on petitions will increase from 96 cents per signature to $1.99.

Supervisors on Tuesday questioned Lever about how the new fees were calculated.

But they voted unanimously to approve the proposal.

The new fees take effect later this month.

Board Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez asked officials to investigate the costs of offering some voter data on personal computer floppy discs.

The registrar now stores data on a mainframe computer system.