Commissioners approve logic and accuracy contract for 2026 election
The Butler County commissioners approved a service agreement Wednesday for logic and accuracy testing and Election Day support staff for the election bureau.
The commissioners approved a $23,650 contract with Election Systems and Software LLC to provide support staff for logic and accuracy testing and support staff. Logic and accuracy testing is required before every election to ensure scanner and other election equipment are in working order before elections are held.
Election Bureau director Chantell McCurdy said the payment amount is the 2025 rate, and not the 2026 rate, which would have been $2,500 more.
She said the bureau does not have enough staff to conduct logic and accuracy testing in a timely manner. The testing now takes three days with the assistance of an Election Systems and Software employee, and would take a week for staff to do it themselves, she said. The testing coincides with the time the bureau receives mail-in ballot applications and sends out the ballots. McCurdy said.
Election Day staff from the contractor is needed to address issues that arise that day, she said. In 2024, an employee of the contractor helped correct a problem with a ballot scanner.
“Without ES & S, we would not have had a scanner,” McCurdy said.
In other business, the commissioners agreed to provide two $50,000 grants from the $5 surcharge imposed on vehicle registrations for road reconstruction projects that have been completed in Slippery Rock Borough and Brady Township.
One grant will go toward Brady Township’s $137,961 cost of reconstructing multiple roads and the other grant will go toward Slippery Rock’s $136,826 cost of reconstructing Center Street from Maple to Vincent streets.
Commissioners also raised the fees for having development plans reviewed by the planning department. The fees, which were last updated in 2023, will increase by various amounts when they go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
Nathan Werner, assistant planning director, said the current fees generate about $40,000 a year in revenue and the new fees will bring in about $70,000. The county’s cost to review the plans is about $150,000 per year, he said.
Commissioner Kim Geyer said counties are prohibited by law from profiting from development application fees.
Mark Gordon, planning and economic development chief, said different plans require different levels of review. He said some municipalities have development ordinances and planning departments, and some don’t have ordinances and rely on the county’s planning department to review development applications.
