Jackson County taxpayers missed out on a chance to save $56,000 &mdash; and probably much more &mdash; while holding Tuesday&rsquo;s election that renewed an anti-drug sales tax. </p><p>More vigilance by County Executive Mike Sanders and his staff could have helped shave the total bill for the election, now estimated at a staggering $847,000 for just the COMBAT tax issue.</p><p>And a much more aggressive approach by the state-appointed Kansas City and Jackson County election boards would have saved money, too.</p><p>Instead, county taxpayers may have to shell out $18.14 for every single one of the 46,700 votes cast in the COMBAT election. That&rsquo;s a puny 10.8 percent of registered voters.</p><p>The cost to hold the election should have been lower. For example, the two election boards went overboard in hiring four or more judges to staff each of 279 polling places.</p><p>Missouri statute 115.081 allows election authorities to appoint only two judges (one from each major political party) to serve at polling places during special elections, such as the one held Tuesday.</p><p>Election judges are paid $100 or more for their work. By cutting two judges at each poll, the election authorities could have saved at least $200 at every polling place. The potential savings for taxpayers: $56,000.</p><p>Kansas City Election Board Director Shelley McThomas last week noted that very state statute while discussing the estimated costs for Tuesday&rsquo;s election, remarking, &ldquo;We can save money there.&rdquo;</p><p>In the future, both election boards should reduce the number of judges during special elections, which tend to have low turnouts.</p><p>As for Sanders and his staff, they were disturbingly cavalier by not forcefully questioning both election boards on their estimated costs for the COMBAT vote.</p><p>Remember, the COMBAT budget will pay the election expenses, taking more than $800,000 from law enforcement and from efforts to curb drug use.</p><p>In addition, the county for months has been auditing expenses submitted by the Kansas City Election Board from 2008. Sanders and his staff thus should have been more skeptical about charges levied by the election boards in 2009.</p><p>One example: the decision to bill taxpayers an estimated $59,000 for training 1,897 judges, deputies and election specialists for a single-issue election.</p><p>Jackson County plans to spend $1.9 million to hold its elections in 2010; Kansas City may spend a similar amount. Both governments have a duty to taxpayers to be much more aggressive in holding down these costs in the future.