Registrar Tracy Howard has proposed moving Radford's city council and school board elections from May to November to save the city about $4,500 per election cycle.

November elections, like May elections, are paid by the locality.

Starting in 2002, the Virginia Board of Elections began reimbursing only 95 percent of the salaries of election board employees and registrar.

This year, because of predictions of budget shortfalls coming from the state, Howard has proposed a budget with a 90 percent state reimbursement rate.

Moving the elections to November would help offset those cuts, Howard said.

"I'm proposing this for a stopgap measure for this year," Howard said.

"According to other locations, it saves money to have elections in November," Howard said.

Councilman Robert Nicholson said he doesn't anticipate a change before the upcoming May election, because of time constraints, but the proposal hasn't been discussed by council yet.

Moving the elections because of budget cuts might not be the right reasoning, Nicholson said.

He isn't against moving the elections, he said, but he thinks it should be a move to counteract voter apathy.

Vice Mayor Dick Harshberger agrees.

"I think it's something we should be considering," Harshberger said. "Turnout for the May elections is dismal."

In the May 2008 election, voter turnout was about 13 percent of registered voters. In May 2006, turnout was about 17 percent.

In comparison, about 27 percent voted in the November 2007 election and 48 percent in the November 2006 election.

On the other hand, something has to be done to make up for the predicted shortfalls, Harshberger said, and thinks the motion should be sent to referendum.

"Whatever we can do to reduce costs in these times is good," he said.

Moving elections has come up multiple times during both Nicholson's and Harshberger's tenures, they said, but it has always been in the context of higher voter turnout, not budget shortages.

One problem with moving the elections to November would be the potential involvement of political parties in the elections, Nicholson said.

Radford candidates run without party affiliations. That allows residents to listen to the people, not party platform, Nicholson said.

Council members say they plan to watch voter turnout in Blacksburg and Christiansburg. Blacksburg has moved its elections from May to November starting next month, and that's when Christiansburg will hold a voter referendum about potentially moving the elections.

If enacted before May's elections, it would give officials up for re-election in May an extra six months on their terms. Terms would then expire Jan. 1 instead of July 1.

Officials up for election in May include Councilwoman Laurie Buchwald, Mayor Tom Starnes and Councilman Bruce Brown. School board members whose terms are expiring are Lynn Burris, Vanessa Duncan and Karen Gerlach.

None of the candidates has officially stated if he or she will run for re-election.