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Commissioners to consider request from Auditor-Treasurer

NEW ULM — Brown County commissioners will consider a $23,347.06 request from the Brown County Auditor-Treasurer (AT) for more office/storage space and budget call-back items Nov. 7.

Commissioners meet today at the Brown County Courthouse, starting at 9 a.m.

The AT office has been working with the building and election committee to ensure the office is meeting necessary statutory requirements for elections, and providing appropriate storage of election equipment and supplies. In addition, the office is looking at adding a staff person and will need a work space for the new hire, Auditor-Treasurer Jean Prochniak wrote in her request.

“For the past several months, we have been working to relocate and create appropriate storage for items required on our retention schedule,” Prochniak wrote. “STS (Sentenced to Service) provided much assistance with the projects. Permanent storage items have been relocated to the fourth floor. We are working toward the goal of having storage allocated by department for ease in future reference.”

Prochniak said the office has been researching the needs for storage and work space in the AT office vault. Previous storage units are being reused in the permanent storage room and in the first floor vault. She said AT staff collaborated with Staples Office Products to design a new vault.

The vault revamp would allow for storage of ballots, ePoll books planned to be purchased with a 2018 state grant, allow work space for processing payments, check scanning, testing and deployment of election equipment and supplies; create a secure computer shared workspace; and provide storage for a variety of office documents.

Prochniak wrote that the office met with a local vendor but no project quote was provided. In addition, the office will continue to use STS crew to complete some of the office work.

She added that the AT office put in extra hours to accommodate the 2016 Presidential Election process. “We have been working hard to better utilize our space so we do not have to perform tasks outside regular business hours,” Prochniak wrote.

In addition, she wrote that the AT office has a carpeting quote from New Ulm Furniture but needs electrical quotes to extend power for the new workspace anticipated to be complete by Feb. 15. That would allow enough time to set up prior to an April 2018 anticipated hire date.

Prochniak added that there is no more main office area work space to add staff. To ensure the flow of taxpayers is not disrupted due to direct balloting popularity anticipated to increase, the office has to ensure it is conducting elections in accordance with statutes.

Commissioners will consider 2018 draft budget callback items for the County Probation, County Recorder’s Office and Capital Improvement Fund.

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