Welcome to our new web site!

To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.

During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.

Budget Committee Discusses Election Equipment, Sports Gaming Revenues

Posted

HUNTINGDON (October 8) — The Carroll County Budget Committee reviewed pricing quotes for new election equipment and new revenues from the state’s new Sports Gaming Act.

Carroll County Election Commission presented quotes for purchase of all new voting machines and poll pads to be used for elections. The proposed voting machines will optically scan the ballots and the poll pads would allow digital records of registered voters at each of the precincts, thus eliminating the paper check-in process.

The proposals indicated the poll pads were $41,475 for 30 units from one company and $58,920 for 38 units from the second company.

The optical scanning voting machines and related software and supporting perifials costs $122,930 from one company and $293,188 from the other company. The county has $210,000 in grant funds to use toward the purchase.

The Budget Committee deferred any decision in order to seek additional information from the Election Commission.

The Budget Committee honored the Election Commission’s request to increase their compensation from $70 per meeting to $100, the same as the county commissioners receive.

Tennessee’s new Sports Gaming Act went into effect November 1, 2020. The county of Carroll’s receipts from its pro-rata share of the statewide receipts is $5,448 so far in this fiscal year. The receipts are expected to grow as the sports betting becomes more popular. The Committee voted to place the receipts into the Reserve Account.

One of three long-term debts of the county’s will be shopped to determine if a lower interest and fees can be achieved. Chairman Darrell Ridgely and Stacey McCaleb will seek better rates for the loan on the courthouse renovation.