The county is responsible to pay for the general election "in its entirety," with the local governments paying for primaries, Parrott wrote.
The deputy county clerk's original letter explained that state mandates stemming from the 2018 and 2019 election changes in the state, raised costs because they require counties to send mail-in ballots to all registered voters. Those mailed ballots include special envelopes to return the ballots by mail, or to bring it to a drop-off box. In addition to the cost of producing the ballots, there is an extra postage charge for those sent back via mail.
It wasn't until the federal election of 2020, a presidential election and its increase in the number of voters, that the added expense was apparent. The pandemic cut down on people who voted in person and increased the number of ballots mailed back.