Borough clerk presents department budget overview, highlights digitization and election metrics

Borough Clerk Ms. Trickey presented the department budget overview for FY25-26, walking the Assembly through five divisions and the central assumptions behind modest year-over-year increases.

Ms. Trickey highlighted measurable changes: assembly webpages received over 15,000 hits in FY24-25 (up from roughly 6,600 the prior year), and the clerk's office election page drew about 5,960 hits on election day. She said those web improvements and a public-facing electronic records application have reduced phone calls and improved public access to minutes and ordinances going back to the 1960s.

Division-level notes: the assembly division's increase (roughly $11,870, 2.2%) reflects contractual obligations (audit services and microfilm archiving) and a small service-contract increase for audio/visual maintenance; boards and commissions clerks request modest increases to support Chismar Room AV upgrades and training; the clerk's office seeks funds for a high-school intern program and minor travel and training increases; elections reported a small net increase (about 0.08% overall) to cover petition review costs, early-voting rent increases and equipment warranty renewals; records management requested a $2,500 scanner replacement and continues to expand digitization (23,000 records entered into the electronic records system last year).

On early voting logistics, Ms. Trickey said the office has struggled to secure an accessible, secure site for the full early voting period because many facilities have contractual or operational conflicts during that time; rent for early voting is expected to rise and the office has budgeted modestly to accommodate it.

Why it matters: The clerk's presentation clarifies small, mostly contractual increases across the department while emphasizing investments that improve public access to records and stabilize election operations. Members asked detailed questions about benefit-rate increases, travel-card arrangements and publication costs.

Next steps: The clerk's department will carry these recommended figures into the mayor's proposed budget review and return with more granular numbers during the formal budget process.