Ballot bill: $35,000

A number of people have contacted me about the cost the city of Bainbridge will bear for the May 19 change-of-government ballot measure.

In one of my stories last week, City Administrator Mark Dombroski predicted that the estimated $75,000 cost of the election would be split between the city and the Bainbridge Island School District, which is hoping to pass a capital bond on May 19.

Some readers have cited a lower-cost estimate noted by a city councilwoman that puts the city’s costs at around $15,000. The lower cost is based on the assumption that the ballot will be split three or four ways with measures from other jurisdictions.

Dombroski’s cost estimate is closer to the mark, according to the Kitsap County Elections Manager Dolores Gilmore. She estimated this morning that the two-item Bainbridge ballot will cost the city about $35,000.

Gilmore said May 19 Central and South Kitsap fire district measures will not be included on the Bainbridge ballot because Bainbride voters are not eligible to vote in those elections.