Worried that the Summit County Board of Elections is bent on overspending next year, County Council on Monday approved only a temporary budget for the agency.The three-month budget provides $1.5 million for the board, and gives the county administration and the council more time to analyze board expenses as they prepare the remaining appropriation.The administration, the council and elections board have been sparring over the amount of money needed to run next year’s elections. County Executive Russ Pry has proposed $4.7 million, while the board has countered with $9.3 million.Board officials, who didn’t attend the council meeting, have said expenses will grow next year because it’s a presidential election year and more people are voting early by mail, which costs more than voting at the polls or casting absentee ballots in person. The county spent $7.1 million during the last presidential election. The Pry administration and council members have claimed that the board is inefficient and spending too much, especially when compared to the similar-sized counties of Lucas and Montgomery.They have cited full-time poll worker coordinators as an example of wasteful spending. The employees are considered full time and receive medical benefits, pension benefits and a $4,000-a-year salary, but they work only about 20 days a year.County Finance and Budget Director Brian Nelsen estimated those 12 workers cost the board about $200,000 a year. No other county board employs such workers, officials have said.Councilman John Schmidt, a former board worker, urged the county to do a thorough analysis of why Lucas and Montgomery residents are paying less than Summit taxpayers. But he also warned his colleagues: “You can’t do elections on the cheap.”In other business, the council:• Agreed to contract with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy’s Thriving Communities Institute to investigate creating and operating a county-led land-bank program.The program, also called a County Land Reutilization Corporation, would allow the county to take ownership of tax-foreclosed properties and help deal with an abundance of vacant and abandoned properties. Land banks can raze blighted properties, fix up others to resell or hang onto them for future development.Robin Darden Thomas, the land-bank program director for the Thriving Communities Institute, told council members that her group would tailor the program to Summit County.The Thriving Communities Institute will be paid through grants and not taxpayer money, officials said. The Akron Community Foundation and GAR Foundation have agreed to contribute $15,000 and $25,000, respectively. • Approved a three-year, $2.7 million policing agreement with the Akron-Canton Airport. The sheriff’s office will provide 10 deputies for the airport through December 2014.• Approved the 2012 operating budgets for Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services ($63.7 million); Children Services ($47.7 million); and Developmental Disabilities ($72.6 million).Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.