Commissioners OK upgrades to machines

The next time Jay County residents vote, it will likely be on updated machines.
The Jay County Commissioners gave county clerk Ellen Coats permission to act as purchasing agent for the upgrades, pending county council approving of the spending at its Nov. 18 meeting.
Coats told the commissioners during their Monday meeting that MicroVote would take back 10 machines the county doesn’t need in exchange for $12,500 in credit, which could be used toward $60,000 in upgrades on the other 50 machines.
The remaining $47,500 will come from an election fund, which should have about $50,000 left after expenses from last week’s election, including poll worker wages, are paid.
“When they’re done with the upgrade, it’ll be like a brand-new machine,” Coats said.
MicroVote guarantees the upgrades, which will include new processors and screens, for 10 years. The screens will show white words on a black background, which Coats said should be more readable than the current black words on a white background.
Jay County will still have six extra machines. The exchange is possible because a consolidation of precincts means fewer machines are needed.
In other business, commissioners Faron Parr, Jim Zimmerman and Doug Inman:
•Signed a proclamation declaring November 2015 United Way of Jay County Month “in recognition of both past efforts and future efforts made by the voluntary efforts of Jay County’s citizens.”
•Agreed Inman would remain the county’s member of the Wabash River Heritage Corridor Commission for 2016 and 2017. Parr will be the alternate.
•Heard from assessor Diana Stults that beginning in 2016, taxpayers will not have to file returns on business personal property if the acquisition cost is less than $20,000. But they will need to file paperwork to certify they should be exempt, and will have to pay a $25 late fee if they don’t do so by May 15.
Stults told the commissioners she’ll be asking county council if a fee can be imposed on taxpayers requesting exemption, because the paperwork creates more work for her office and the county receives no tax funds on the exempt property.
•Heard a road paving request from New Corydon residents Arleen Miller and Jane Wendel. A stone section of county road 800 North is the only way out of town during flooding, they said, and residents would prefer it was paved.
•Acting as the county drainage board, approved the drainage plan for Pennville Custom Cabinetry’s expansion at 600 E. Votaw St., Portland.