Agenda - Council - 11/27/2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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the annual fee outlined above. The contribution of 15% of the total cost of the election system from schools effectively reduces the amount cities would be responsible for from 45% to 30 %. In turn, cities would be prohibited from invoicing the schools for the "other election costs" specified in the agreement. This formula recognizes each party's statutory obligation to share costs, simplifies the fee structure, eliminates the flurry of potentially disparate invoices, and allows all parties to plan for a relatively stable budget expenditure each year. 2013 Voting Equipment Purchase Instability in the marketplace has led to a crisis in development and manufacturing of voting equipment in the United States. New laws were put into place with the adoption of the Help America Vote Act and a new federal agency, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), was created to oversee voting equipment certification and distribution of federal grants for voting equipment replacement. That agency proved ineffectual and certification of equipment was at a near stand -still for several years. In the meantime, a series of corporate acquisitions left just a handful of vendors in business, seriously reducing competition. As a result, Minnesota (which requires all voting equipment to meet federal certification standards) has not certified "next generation" voting equipment. We are currently in a certification application blackout time period that will lift on December 1, 2012. We expect to see applications to our state from at least two voting equipment manufacturers within the next few weeks. Once our choices have been established we must act quickly to make the purchase so that our new system can be fully operational in time for the fall 2013 local elections. Deployment of the system for 2013 local elections is highly desirable so that election administrators, poll workers, and voters can become familiar with the system well in advance of the State General Election of 2014. Purchase and Agreement Approval Timeline Timing of the certification and subsequent equipment purchase affects our agreement approval timeline. Though our cities and schools have expressed agreement in concept, specific system costs will not be known until early 2013. In the meantime, detailed estimates have been prepared and forwarded to each city and school district in Anoka County to include in their 2013 budget. Members of the Anoka County Board of Commissioners have been consulted throughout the process and are supportive of the efforts and recommendation made by the Work Group and Task Force. The County budget has also been structured to incorporate all elements of the equipment purchase and cost - sharing proposal. The contract itself has been reviewed by Task Force members and received unanimous approval at the Management Committee of the Anoka County Board on Monday, November 13 Full board approval is expected on November 27 The Anoka County Elections Manager is scheduled to attend several city /school meetings and work sessions to answer questions and address concerns during the months of November and December and we hope to have approval by all parties to the agreement no later than December 31, 2012. Attachments: Draft Agreement