Trending
Less than two weeks after the election, poll workers are getting paid through a new system the county has instituted to speed up the process for rewarding the people who manned the precincts on Nov. 7.
The Lycoming County commissioners approved spending $86,354 for the workers to be paid at their meeting this week.
"This is a new process we're using to pay for workers through court funds. We're hoping it's going to go faster than some of the processes that we followed in the past," said Forrest Lehman, voter services director.
"It's a new process right now, so it's been a bit of a growing experience for us and for the poll workers," he added.
Commissioner Rick Mirabito clarified that court funds are not referring to money from the courts. The money actually comes from a grant and Court Funds is the name of the company that is delivering the money.
The expenditure represents pay for over 500 workers at the county's 81 precincts.
"That's how many people it takes to make democracy work on the ground. It's fire halls, township buildings, community facilities, all over the county. That's the cost of government by the people and the poll workers do a fantastic job of carrying that out," Lehman said.
"I try to go out to a couple places every election, see the poll workers, thank them for what they're doing. And it's amazing because you go through the training and you're always kind of nervous about how everything is going to go. Because small-d democracy can be both majestic and messy when it unfolds on election day, but you go out there and the poll workers have it all under control. You go out there, they've got the equipment, they've got their tables set up and they have their own little corner of the county. They're holding down their fort and then they come back at the end of the night," Lehman said.
Court Funds is the name of the new payment system the county is using to pay poll workers and jurors utilizing a prepaid card.
"It cuts out some of the normal county payroll processes, which means they get the compensation in their hands, quickly. Our target now is two weeks out from the election. We've had some years where it's gone three weeks or four weeks or even a little longer," he said.
"There are some other counties that already use this for poll workers...the reviews have generally been good. It's just you have to teach the poll workers the new system and the first time you roll it out is always the challenge," he added.
In other business, the commissioners approved: an agreement with Foster & Foster Actuaries and Consultants for actuarial service and OPEB (other post-employee benefit) services; a resolution authorizing the filing of the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) local share account (LSA) -- statewide application for funding up to $1,000,000 for the improvement of the new Coroner's facility; a resolution authorizing filing a Strategic Management Planning Program grant application to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for funding up to $200,000 to seek support for a new financial software system; an annual agreement with Cybergenetics not to exceed $100,000; the award for RFP request for proposal for Utility Elevation Engineering to PennCore Consulting LLC; the award for RFP for construction management services to Skanska USA Building Inc. in the amount of $273,290; a resolution for the emergency repair of hydraulic cylinders at the Transfer Station in the amount of $31,099; a Corporate Guarantee Statement with Milton Regional Sewer Authority; and a Contractual Consent of Landowner Form with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection establishing that the landfill is now located on land now owned by the county.
Under personnel, the following appointments were made at the rates of pay listed; Evan Young, full-time replacement correctional officer I at the prison, $20 per hour; Jon Mackey, full-time replacement EMA Specialist in the Department of Public Safety, $42,393; Lindsey Dapp, part-time replacement EMA clerk III, in the Department of Public Safety, $15.31 per hour; Joshua Wolfem deputy sheriff, $22 per hour; and Tara Bannon, part-time replacement resident supervisor in the Pre-Release Center, $18.10 per hour.
The next commissioners' meeting will be at 10 a.m. Nov. 30 in the Commissioners Board Room, first floor Executive Plaza, 330 Pine St.