Knox City Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston approached the Starke County Council members last week concerning a bill for $8,700 for the Primary Election.
He said in his past 12 years in office, he’s never gotten a bill for a Primary Election.
Council President Dave Pearman thought the City had always gotten a bill, but Auditor Rachel Oesterreich said that there hadn’t been a bill for a municipal election in several years.
Dan Bridegroom, who was acting Proxy for Starke County Election Board member Harrison Fields on another matter, said there has to be an agreement between the county and the city prior to the election concerning the bill.
“It is in the IC code, I don’t know which code it’s under, where there has to be an agreement in the prior year before you can bill a municipality for an election,” stated Bridegroom. “It can be waived, and I believe we have to go through the council to waive it, or it can be assessed.”
Houston noted that the expense was not budgeted as there was no notice of the invoice forthcoming.
The Starke County Council members agreed to table the matter until the state statute can be reviewed and look further into the situation.
