The September mayoral recall election cost Tempe taxpayers $105,000 — nearly $15,000 more than city officials expected.
In a memo to Mayor Neil Giuliano and the City Council, city clerk Kathy Matz blamed the cost on the unprecedented amount of early mail ballots that were cast and the increase of new voters.
More than 8,000 Tempe residents registered to vote for the election, due in part to huge voter registration campaigns.
The City Council had approved a $90,000 budget based on the average costs of previous elections.
“There are a lot of needs that the money could have been used for,” Guiliano said. “It’s unfortunate we had to spend that money at all.”
Sixty-eight percent of voters favored keeping Giuliano in office rather than allowing local actor Ganssle to take over.
Tempe resident A.J. LaFaro started the recall campaign following the city’s suggestion to stop donating to the Boy Scouts because it refused to admit gay members.
LaFaro said he wasn’t surprised that the cost of the election exceeded the budget.
“That’s their fault,” he said, “and that’s just indicative of the way they run Tempe. It’s unfortunate that Giuliano won.”
Reach Lauren Carney at lauren_carney@homail.com.
