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Email from Maryland Department of Budget and Management |
The following Email was received January 30, 2006
Dear Mr. Zeese:
An e-mail from you was forwarded to our office. In the e-mail you stated that you had some questions about the
Budget for the Maryland State Board of Elections. Our response appears below.
You
have asked what constitutes "operating costs" in the State budget; and
what are the specific expenses of the State Board of Elections for
maintenance and lease of the DRE [direct electronic recording] voting
system.
Operating expenses include expenses incurred by a State
agency in performing its functions. Operating expenses in this budget
presentation exclude the personnel costs listed under the categories
for "Salaries, Wages, and Fringe Benefits" and "Special and Technical
Fees" in the presentation that I believe you are referring to.
Operating expenses can include expenses associated with communications
(telephone, postage), travel, motor vehicle operations, contracts with
outside vendors (public and private), supplies and materials,
equipment, grants, and fixed charges. These expenses are summarized in
the annual Maryland budget book for each agency by total budget and are
aggregated into various categories for the individual agency
program(s). The State Board of Elections budget provides this detail
for its three programs: General Administration, Help America Vote Act;
and Major Information Technology Development Projects.
The lease
payments made by the State Board of Elections in FY2005 totaled
$9,386,127 and in FY2006 will total $5,187,294. The payment to Diebold
Election Systems, Inc. for maintenance of the voting machines was
$5,710,748 in FY2005 and will total $9,603,525 in FY2006.
I trust that this information responds adequately to your query.
Yours truly,
David A. Treasure
Director, Office of Budget Analysis
Maryland Department of Budget and Management
Annapolis, MD 21401 |
