The month after Brazos County received 480 new voting machines, county commissioners have raised the price for cities and school districts to rent the equipment.

County judge Duane Peters says the increase, the first since 2002, helps cover the millions of dollars to purchase voting machines and associated equipment along with higher maintenance and licensing costs.

In the past, cities and school districts have paid a rental fee of two percent of the purchase price of the equipment.

This week, commissioners came out of executive session and unanimously voted to charge four percent.

Peters says a survey of other counties shows rental fees are as high as the state limit of 10 percent of the purchase price.

Elections Administrator Trudy Hancock says the cost for the Bryan school district to rent machines for their May bond election is $21,500 dollars. Hancock says the rental price based on the older machines would have been $8,100 dollars.