Vanderburgh County Council ponders cost-saving measures in early voting

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Vanderburgh County budget writers on Wednesday asked questions about how to cut costs of early voting, foreshadowing possible tweaks in the schedule and locations.

With County Clerk Carla Hayden standing before them discussing her 2020 budget, County Council members Tom Shetler and Mike Goebel asked if changes could save money.

They noted that May's primary election for Evansville city government positions drew 4,993 voters — only 6 percent of those registered vote in the city. 

The Courier & Press reported in May that taxpayers paid poll workers $23,320 so just over 1,000 people could cast ballots in one week of early voting before primary election day. That data came from the office of Hayden, Vanderburgh County's chief elections official.

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It's likely the 2020 primary election will draw far more voters, with presidential nominations and nominations for state and local offices at stake. Moreover, that balloting will be countywide. No one on the council spoke about cutting early voting hours or locations for next year's general election, when the presidential race will likely bring high turnout countywide.

Pointing to the county's limited resources, Shetler and Goebel asked if changes could be made, at least for the spring primary.

Goebel asked about going from the customary two weeks of early voting to one week, while Shetler's questions dealt with eliminating or changing locations where few early votes are cast.

"A lot of money is being spent on early voting," Shetler said. "I’m not against early voting. I wonder if we couldn’t tweak that a bit to make a little more efficient, save some costs."

Hayden told County Council members she would return with some numbers. She said early voting has grown in popularity, even approaching 50 percent of votes cast in some election cycles.

Nearly all public expense on early voting is poll worker salary, which is $10 per hour, Hayden said. Most early voting takes place at library branches, and the county does not pay to use those facilities.

Hayden noted it's impossible to say at this stage whether both presidential nominations will be effectively decided before Indiana's primary on May 4.

"If the top candidates are decided before it gets to Indiana, it (voter turnout) might be low," Hayden said. "We don’t know."

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The County Council spent three hours Monday morning discussing the county's 2020 budget. Another hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday. The council expects to announce cuts at Sept. 11 meeting, with final approval of the budget planned Oct. 2.

Some other topics during Wednesday's hearing:

Jail funding

County officials are working with consultants on a long-term solution to jail overcrowding, but there is no funding in the 2020 budget for a jail construction project. 

For now, Vanderburgh taxpayers are still paying large sums to house inmates in other counties because the local jail is far above capacity.

Sheriff Dave Wedding noted that local news in Evansville is often dominated by high-profile crimes. Vanderburgh County currently has about 830 inmates in custody, with at least 200 of those housed in jails outside the county.

"In 2020, we will probably spend in excess of $2.8 million to other counties," Wedding said. "That is to keep the inmates safe and the staff safe."

The state's reimbursement to Vanderburgh County to house inmates convicted of low-level felonies, meanwhile, is far short of what the county needs to cover its costs, Wedding said. He recently spoke to Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch about that.

Councilman James Raben said of Wedding, “I don’t think anybody can scream louder than he has on this issue.”

Wedding said: “It’s like pushing a boulder up a hill. But we are fighting.”

Prosecutor's Office

County Prosecutor Nick Hermann's budget request includes two new investigator positions. Their roles would be to review hours of police body cam footage that comes to his office with criminal case files.

The Evansville Police Department, which accounts for 85 to 90 percent of local criminal cases, has implemented near-universal use of body cams.

"It’s created a huge mass of electronic information going through our office," Hermann said, adding that in some cases, secretarial staff has been used to review such footage because no one else is available.

The Pagoda

When reviewing the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau's budget, County Council members were surprised by the escalating capital costs to maintain The Pagoda, the Riverside Drive building that houses CVB.

Raben said that after 2020, repair bills at The Pagoda will have totaled about $1 million over five years.

"To me it’s almost getting to a point where we’re chasing good money after bad," Raben said.

The Pagoda dates to 1912. Many of the repairs have been for drainage woes.

CVB Director Joe Taylor, in his second year with the bureau, noted The Pagoda is a riverfront rental venue and not just an office.

“Rentals are way up," Taylor said. "The good news is the community enjoys and uses the building.”

Reporter Thomas B. Langhorne contributed to this story.

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