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Home My WebLink AboutFY 2025 Budget Synopsis CS ELECTIONS 2024-0402 FINAL OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK FY 2025 BUDGET AND OPERATIONAL SYNOPSIS Jade K. Fountain-Tanigawa County Clerk Lyndon M. Yoshioka Deputy County Clerk 1 Department: OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK Division: COUNCIL SERVICES Fund: GENERAL FUND 1. FY 2024 to FY 2025 BUDGET COMPARISON FY 2024 FY 2025 $ + / - % + / - Salary and Wages 2,228,378 2,517,553 289,175 13.0% Benefits 1,227,053 1,304,301 77,248 6.3% Utilities 20,700 20,700 0 0.0% Vehicle/Equip, Lease 50,000 50,000 0 0.0% Operations 1,605,214 1,473,084 -132,130 -8.2% 5,131,345 5,365,638 234,293 4.6% 44% 24%0% 1% 31% FY 2024 Operating Budget Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip , Lease 47% 24%0% 1% 28% FY 2025 Operating Budget Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip , Lease 0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000 3,000,000 Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease Operations FY 2023 and FY 2024 Comparison FY 2024 FY 2025 2 The Office of the County Clerk, Council Services Division serves as the legislative branch of County government. It is responsible for providing support services to the Kauaʻi County Council and is comprised of four (4) sections: Research, Records Management, Secretarial Assistance, and Clerical Support Services. The proposed appropriation of $5,365,638 allocates $3,821,854 or 71.2% for personnel costs and $1,543,784 or 28.8% for operating expenditures and represents a 4.6% increase from FY 2024. 2. MAJOR CHANGES AND/OR VARIANCES IN THE OPERATIONAL BUDGET Salary and Wages increased $289,175 or 13.0%. Benefits increased $77,248 or 6.3%. Operations decreased <$132,130> or <8.2%>. 3. OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES FROM FY 2024 • Accepting public testimony via interactive conference technology (ICT) is a cumbersome effort due to aging infrastructure and the patchwork connectivity between the various systems used to live stream and capture meeting proceedings. • Building security and staff safety are a growing concern due to individuals with what appears to be substance abuse and/or mental health issues entering public areas of the Historic County Building and loitering in surrounding areas. • Fulfilling legislative projects and public requests in an expeditious manner continues to be a challenge. Jurisdictional uncertainty, resource limitations, and varying expectations complicate efforts. • Working to achieve high employee morale. 4. OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM FY 2024 • Hosted the 2023 Hawai‘i Association of Counties (HSAC) Annual Conference at the Kōloa Landing Resort on September 21 and 22, 2023. The net proceeds from the conference were $128,973.59. Conference revenue was provided to HSAC to support its operations. The Conference theme was, “He Ali‘i ke ‘Āina,” meaning “The land provides, so we need to do all to ensure the land is taken care of.” Guest speakers, panels, and activities focused on how Counties can work together to address issues directly affecting our communities. 3 • Public testimony via ICT has resumed but participation is infrequent and remains issue driven. • Miscellaneous Statistics (as of March 25, 2024). − Project Assignments: 237 − Non-agenda communications scanned, indexed, and filed (does not include any modifications/updates to existing items): 1,123 − Agenda-related items scanned (does not include any modifications/updates to existing items): 546 − Council and Committee minutes scanned, indexed, and filed: 108 − Executive Session minutes and related documents scanned, indexed, and filed: 93 − Committee Reports scanned, indexed, and filed: 35 − Resolutions scanned, indexed, and filed: 62 − Bills/Ordinances scanned, indexed, and filed: 15 − Public Hearing transcripts scanned, indexed, and filed: 14 − Affidavits of Publication scanned, indexed, and filed: 38 − On average, 8 communications on the weekly meeting agenda were indexed, and filed. − Requests to search for and retrieve documents: Total requests: 127 Total hours: 96 − Vendor-scanned documents that have been indexed, corrected, and verified: 1,016 4 Department: OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK Division: ELECTIONS Fund: GENERAL FUND 1. FY 2024 to FY 2025 BUDGET COMPARISON FY 2024 FY 2025 $ + / - % + / - Salary and Wages 293,311 552,541 259,230 88.4% Benefits 229,950 228,611 -1,339 -0.6% Utilities 0 0 0 0.0% Vehicle/Equip, Lease 196,200 26,201 -169,999 -86.6% Operations 282,956 466,455 183,499 64.9% 1,002,417 1,273,808 271,391 27.1% 29% 23% 0% 20% 28% FY 2024 Operating Budget Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip , Lease 43% 18% 0% 2% 37% FY 2025 Operating Budget Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip , Lease 0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease Operations FY 2024 and FY 2025 Comparison FY 2024 FY 2025 5 The Office of the County Clerk, Elections Division is responsible for administering all federal, state, and county elections conducted in the County of Kaua‘i and is comprised of three (3) sections: Voter Services, Mail Voting, and Printing Services and Election Support. The proposed appropriation of $1,273,808 allocates $781,152 or 61.3% for personnel costs and $492,656 or 38.7% for operating expenditures and represents a 27.1% increase from FY 2024. 2. MAJOR CHANGES AND/OR VARIANCES IN THE OPERATIONAL BUDGET Salary and Wages increased $259,230 or 88.4%. Operations increased $183,499 or 64.9%. Vehicle/Equipment, Lease decreased <$169,999> or <86.6%>. 3. OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES FROM FY 2024 • Cyber security is an ongoing, 24/7 battle. Individual and Nation-state adversaries are probing election systems for vulnerabilities and directing spoofing and phishing attacks against election officials with increasing frequency. • Mitigating misinformation and countering the adverse impacts of Artificial Intelligence is an expensive endeavor which consumes an increasing level of limited resources. • Maintaining safe and secure facilities for voters, volunteers, and employees continues to be a major concern. 4. OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM FY 2024 • Increased collaboration with Federal, State, and local partners, and participation in table-top and similar exercises to improve plans for addressing incidents. • Operations were reorganized and staffing was increased to allow for the redistribution of work and to permit select staff to focus on a narrower set of responsibilities. • Procured an upgraded ballot envelope scanner/sorter with increased envelope processing throughput. The new scanner/sorter is better equipped to accommodate a recent trend of ballot envelopes being returned immediately before the deadline on Election Day. • Procedures and processes are being updated based on experiences from the 2022 Elections and in anticipation of another contentious election season. 6 • As part of the Elections Division Continuity Plan, two (2) additional full-time personnel will be funded year-round beginning with the FY 2025 Budget. This will allow for the transfer of institutional knowledge and prepare the office for the eventual retirement of current section supervisors.