A deadline of October 1 forced Gunnedah Shire Council to choose an electoral service provider without knowing what it will cost because IPART's final report on election costs was not released until yesterday.

On the same day, the Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock said the state government would subsidise some of the election costs for councils.

A new law prevents the council from running its own election next year.

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Gae Swain said it was "absolutely disgraceful" that they were being "held almost at ransom" and called to vote "for something that we're not certain we're voting for".

Jamie Chaffey said it was "very disappointing" that the decision had been "forced on us".

"We don't know who will now be delivering the elections in 2020. We do not know the cost," he said.

"The IPART review recommendations haven't been handed down, yet we've been given a deadline of the 1st of October to make these decisions.

"I think that's terribly irresponsible."

At the meeting, corporate and community services director Colin Formann, said he was "forced" to recommend the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) because the Australian Election Company "is not viable for Gunnedah".

In light of the subsidy commitment from the government, he said the NSWEC had written to the council that morning to say the cost estimates should be available in the next few days.

"This will result in cheaper costs of running the Gunnedah 2020 elections than those I outlined in my report but I don't have the final figures on that," Mr Formann said.

"The cost increase is likely to be a bit less than $80,000 now, although we're still not sure."

The state government said councils will now only pay the direct costs incurred by NSWEC, such as polling booth staff, venue costs and ballot paper printing.

Almost $20 million will be given to NSWEC to fund "core costs" including staff payroll, training and IT system development.