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Home My WebLink AboutFY 2026 (Office of the County Clerk)OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK FY 2026 BUDGET AND OPERATIONAL SYNOPSIS Jade K. Fountain-Tanigawa County Clerk De p artment: OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK Division: COUNCIL SERVICES Fund: GENERAL FUND 1. FY 2025 to FY 2026 BUDGET COMPARISON FY 2025 FY 2026 $+I- Salary and Wages 2,517,553 2,657,872 140,319 Benefits 1,353,317 1,487,422 134,105 Utilities 20,700 20,700 0 Vehicle/Equip, Lease 50,000 135,000 85,000 Operations 1 ,623 ,084 1,393,084 -230,000 5,564,654 5,694,078 129,424 %+/- 5.6% 9.9% 0.0% 170.0% -14.2% 2 .3% FY 2025 Operating Budget FY 2026 Operating Budget 1¾ 1% 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 500,000 0 • Salary and Wages • Benefits ■ Utilities • Vehicle/Equip, Lease • Operations • Salary and Wages ■ Benefits Utilities ■ Vehicle/Equip, Lease ■ Operations FY 2025 and FY 2026 Comparison Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Operations Lease ■FY2025 ■FY2026 1 2. MAJOR CHANGES AND/OR VARIANCES IN THE OPERATIONAL BUDGET The proposed appropriation of $5,694,078 allocates $4,145,294 or 72.8% for personnel costs and $1,548,784 or 27.2% for operating expenditures and represents a 2.3% increase from FY 2025. Notable variances include: • Regular Salaries (001-0201-511.01-01) increased $139,319 or 6.9%. • Other Post Employ Benefit (001-0201-511.05-12) increase $151,88 of 44.3% • Other Services (001-0201-511.30-00) decreased $280,000 or -23.2%. 3. OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES FROM FY 2025 A. Staffing. The recruitment and retention of staff is currently our greatest challenge. For many, the lure of better pay or a lower cost of living elsewhere is eventually too good to pass up. One hundred percent County-paid health care should help offset some losses, but time will tell how much of an impact this added benefit will have. ' B. Infrastructure. Aging infrastructure continues to be a growing issue. About a week before the 2024 General Election, another clog in the Historic County Building plumbing system caused raw sewage to back up into the basement and passage leading to the Annex. Approximately 2 dozen personnel from the Department of Parks and Recreation's plumbing and custodial sections, and a Wastewater Division crew worked to clear the blockage and clean and sanitize the impacted areas. We have been told that the tree root system has cracked the line in numerous areas and replacement of these lines will be necessary. We would like to see these lines repaired, but recognize that the cost will be significant. C. Meeting Webcast. What appears to be equipment compatibility issues have disrupted or prevented the online broadcast of Council or Council Committee meetings on numerous occasions. County IT has dedicated staff to be onsite on meeting days to monitor webcasts and trouble-shoot issues in real-time and will be installing new equipment before the end of the fiscal year. 4. OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM FY 2025 A. 2024 Inauguration. Council Services staff once again did an exceptional job planning and executing the 2024 Inauguration. The estimated 200 in attendance witnessed the swearing-in of 2 new and 5 incumbent Councilmembers, and an incumbent Prosecuting Attorney in a much more intimate setting due to the absence of a mayoral election. B. Bills and Resolutions. As of March 31, 2025, 18 Council and 15 Council Committee meetings were held, resulting in the adoption of 36 bills and 63 resolutions. 2 C. Initiatives. -The Records Section created a Quick Reference Guide for Ordinance Amendments relating to key areas (i.e., Real Property Tax, Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance). -The office added another commissioned Notary Public (now 2 in total). Office Notaries only notarize documents for the Office of the County Clerk. D. Miscellaneous Statistics (as of March 31, 2025). Project Assignments: 155 -Non-agenda communications scanned, indexed, and filed (does not include any modifications/updates to existing items): 943 -Agenda-related items scanned (does not include any modifications/updates to existing items): 238 -Council and Committee minutes scanned, indexed, and filed: 138 -Executive Session minutes and related documents scanned, indexed, and filed: 61 -Committee Reports scanned, indexed, and filed: 58 -Certificates scanned, indexed, and filed: 42 -Resolutions scanned, indexed, and filed: 63 -Bills/Ordinances scanned, indexed, and filed: 36 -Public Hearing transcripts scanned, indexed, and filed: 15 Affidavits of Publication scanned, indexed, and filed: 29 -On average, communications on the weekly meeting agenda were indexed, and filed: 6 -Requests to search for and retrieve documents: Total requests: 42 Total hours: 15 -Vendor-scanned documents that have been indexed, corrected, and verified: 1,601 -Constituents receiving weekly meeting agenda and related communications: 2,177 -Facebook followers: 1,900 3 De p artment: OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK Division: ELECTIONS Fund: GENERAL FUND 1. FY 2025 to FY 2026 BUDGET COMPARISON FY 2025 Salary and Wages 552,541 Benefits 365,224 Utilities 0 Vehicle/Equip, Lease 26,201 Operations 466,455 1,410,421 FY 2025 Operating Budget 2% ■Salary and Wages ■ Benefits ■ Utilities ■ Vehicle/Equip, Lease FY 2026 $+I-%+/- 548,657 -3,884 -0.7% 391,177 25,953 7.1% 0 0 0 .0% 26,201 0 0.0% 428,655 -37,800 -8.1% 1,394,690 -15,731 -1.1% FY 2026 Operating Budget 2% ■Salary and Wages ■ Benefits ■ Utilities ■ Vehicle/Equip, Lease FY 2025 and FY 2026 Comparison 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Operations Lease ■FY2025 ■FY2026 4 2. MAJOR CHANGES AND/OR VARIANCES IN THE OPERATIONAL BUDGET The proposed appropriation of $1,394,690 allocates $939,834 or 67.4% for personnel costs and $454,856 or 32.6% for operating expenditures and represents a 1.1% decrease from FY 2025. Notable variances include: • Regular Salaries (001-0202-511.01-01) increased $16,616 or 3.5%. • Vacation Credit Payout (001-0202-511.01-05) increased $10,000 or 66.7%. • Regular Overtime (001-0202-511.02-0l) decreased $30,000 or -85.7%. • Other Services (001-0202-511.30-00) decreased $35,300 or -11.2%. 3. OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES FROM FY 2025 A. Mail Voting. The late surge of incoming ballot return envelopes on the day before and day of the Election continues to push the limits of staff and resources. On Election Day alone, 6,470 or 24% of the total quantity of envelopes received for the entire election were processed. During the final 2 days of the 2024 General Election, voters submitted 9,000 or 33% of the total quantity of envelopes received for the entire election, which took 40 hours to process. B. In-person Voting. In-person voting at the Voter Service Center (VSC) also experienced a late surge in activity. On Election Day, 1,467 or 42% of total quantity of in-person voters cast a ballot at the VSC. One thousand nine hundred and fifty (1,950) or 56% of the total quantity of in-person voters cast a ballot in the VSC during the final 2 days of the 2024 General Election. During peak midday hours, lines extended along the sidewalk past the Historic County Building and some voters reported waiting in line for an hour and half. C. Facility Issues. A little less than a month before the 2024 General Election a portion of the Historic County Annex (Annex) roof failed during a rainstorm. Rainwater poured into the ballot envelope processing room, which secures scanning/sorting equipment. The roof was patched but during the preceding inspection other portions of the roof were found to be in poor condition and will need to be repaired or replaced. Plumbing issues have also plagued the Annex, the most severe of which flooded both the main floor and basement with raw sewage. 4. OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM FY 2025 A. Envelope Scanner/Sorter. The upgraded envelope scanner/sorter was successfully incorporated into the mail voting operation. The increased envelope processing throughput and enhanced features improves the overall management of the process. Existing functionality is also being evaluated to determine whether it can be adapted for processing other election mail. 5 B. Senior Voter Outreach. In-person presentations were conducted at Senior Centers established at the Kapa'a, Lihu'e, Koloa, Waimea, and Kekaha Neighborhood Centers. A total of 52 Seniors and an undetermined number of non-Senior participants attended the presentation which covered pertinent information concerning the upcoming elections, the voter registration process, and mail and in- person voting procedures. The presentation was well received and will become a regular part of our voter education campaign. C. Voter Awareness Campaign. A digital voter education campaign (Campaign) was reestablished for the 2024 Elections. The Campaign consisted of a micro-website containing election specific information and over 2 dozen custom election specific ads delivered to targeted audiences on various social media platforms. The digital ads which were viewed 906,142 times drove viewers to the micro-website for more complete information. It is estimated that this strategy was responsible for increasing Kaua'i's voter turnout by 2-3% or roughly 1,000 to 1,500 voters. D. Succession Planning. To prepare for the impending retirement of current section supervisors, 4 temporary/seasonal hires were transitioned to long-term funded positions. The added personnel will ensure that institutional knowledge is passed on and will minimize the disruption to operations and services from the impending departures. 6