Blackwell discusses budget with commissioners

Nov. 2—During a recent called commission meeting, several county department heads addressed members of the county commission concerning proposed budgets for 2022.

A tentative budget for all county departments is slated to be presented to commissioners at today's county commission meeting by Baldwin County Manager Carlos Tobar.

Baldwin County Probate Judge and Elections Superintendent Todd A. Blackwell, accompanied by Randy Morrow, the county's chief deputy voter registrar, recently discussed budget plans with commissioners.

Blackwell told commissioners he believed they would find the probate court budget pretty much a carry over from the previous budget.

"If you look down at the requested amounts, and we start with professional, I requested $12,000 there, which last year was $10,000," Blackwell said. "It has been more than that in the past, but over the past five years, for whatever reason, it has gone down. But reality does not go down. And reality is looking back at the expenses for that category in 2018, it was $11,000 of expenses and almost $14,000 worth of expenses, so I don't think it is right for me to come in and request $10,000 for a line item that I know is going to go over."

On the technical side of things, $6,700 is budgeted, he pointed out.

"That's just reality," Blackwell said.

The judge also talked a little about budgeting for any typewriter repairs that the office needs.

"And again, that's going to be right at $4,000," Blackwell said.

In 2018 and 2019, the figure came to $3,600 and $4,000, respectfully.

"Last year, the budgeted amount was $3,600," he said. "I don't think that's a realistic number. Four thousand dollars is just a realistic number, and that's really a recurring thing that I have here with my budget. I'm not coming in here and asking for anything different one way or the other. I'm just asking that my budget match the reality, and if it gets cut, it's still going to be reality. I have no way to control that. Those are county contracts that I don't control."

When it comes to rental of equipment, the Probate Court tentative budget calls for $2,500.

That is for the copier and the postage system, Blackwell said, noting again that he doesn't control those particular contracts.

"I don't negotiate those contracts," Blackwell said. "They are what they are," Blackwell said.

He explained that the postage is a carryover of $2,000.

Blackwell said another $2,000 is budgeted for travel and $1,000 for education.

He has to attend training during the year, including the mandatory probate judges training.

The office supply budget, meanwhile, is set at $5,000.

"That's the same amount that's been in place, probably, 10 or 15 years," Blackwell said. "So, even though office supplies have gone up, I've never increased the budget. We've just managed to work it out."

He also talked a little about the vital records department, which involves having the state-required security paper for such documents.

"Keep in mind that these things that I'm talking about are paid for by the customer that comes in," Blackwell said.

Take birth certificates, for example.

People who come to the probate court office are required to pay $25 to obtain a copy of a birth certificate.

"That paper is not cheap, but it is certainly not $25," Blackwell said. "So, that's a for-profit line item, actually."

When it comes to the probate court side of things, Blackwell told commissioners that the office generates revenue for the county.

"To date, we have paid over to the county in revenue $218,000 — almost $219,000 to date to the county," Blackwell said. "So, on a yearly projected out, we're looking at about $275,000 a year that probate court generates and turns over as to revenue to the county."

The longtime probate court judge said that several items his office provides to the public are paid for by the customer.

"It's kind of odd to me that I come in and ask for money from the commissioners for things that are actually paid for by the customer that came in," Blackwell said.

The probate court judge, who also serves as the county's election superintendent, also talked about his projected budget for elections.

"On the election side of things, we're really trying to get this adjusted out as to what reality is," Blackwell said. "Last year, we had a lot of expenses that will not repeat this year, as far as tables and carts, and other [items] that it took to deal with the newer equipment."

He explained that he had tried to determine the cost of elections in 2018 and the additional costs of present-day elections.

"We know that elections cost more money today, because each ballot that is cast now must produce a paper ballot, whether you vote an absentee ballot or whether you vote on the machines that produces a paper ballot," Blackwell said.

The paper used for the ballots costs more.

Blackwell said the equipment to run a present-day election is a little more complex, especially when considering that it could take an additional poll worker at a precinct.

"Now that's not a lot of money by itself, but 14 precincts and then when you start adding in advance voting has had an additional day added — another Saturday day of voting," Blackwell said.

That would not be a concern to the elections budget from Blackwell's perspective. It would come out of the budget of the Baldwin County Board of Registrars, which closely works with Blackwell's office prior to and during every election in the city and county.

Randy Morrow oversees the budget for the Baldwin County Voter Registrar's Office.

"Sometimes there is a bleed over between his budget and my budget, especially when it comes to advance voting because my crew is there working and heck, I might be sitting there at a table working early voting for that matter," Blackwell said. "So, there is a little bleed over on labor with early voting."