1. (a) Section 123.033 of the Texas Election Code provides for the rental rate that a county may charge for the use of its equipment. (The rental rates $5 for each unit of tabulating equipment and $5.00 for each complete unit which makes up a DRE).
2. (b) In addition to subsection (a) of this section, the county primary fund may be used to pay the actual expenses incurred by the county in transporting, preparing, programming, and testing the necessary equipment, as well as for staffing the central counting station.
3. (c) The county shall be reimbursed for actual expenses if the county's computer system is used as the central-counting-station ballot accumulator. (The county shall calculate the cost to be reimbursed by using the same cost-accounting techniques used by the county in charging county departments for use of its data-processing services. If the county does not have such a formula, then the reimbursement shall be calculated based on $1 per 100 ballots tabulated.)
4. (d) The county chair shall submit all calculations for amounts charged for the use of county-owned and non-county owned equipment to the Secretary of State for review with the 2008 Final Cost Report.
5. (e) The county chair must immediately notify the Secretary of State if the actual number of voting devices used during the primary or runoff exceed the approved number of devices listed on the initial primary cost estimate. This notice must include a new estimate with respect to the use of the additional voting devices. The notice required by this subsection must be submitted in writing.
6. (f) The county chair shall not use primary funds to pay expenses related to the use of non county-owned equipment, including but not limited to ballot boxes and voting booths, without written permission from the Secretary of State. The county chair must immediately notify the Secretary of State if a line item amount will exceed the cost provided on the initial primary cost estimate. This notice must include a new estimate with respect to the increased cost. The notice required by this subsection must be in writing.

Source Note:The provisions of this §81.130 adopted to be effective November 18, 2003, 28 TexReg 10201; amended to be effective November 27, 2005, 30 TexReg 7719; amended to be effective December 9, 2007, 32 TexReg 9105.