County IT presents modest budget increases, flags software consolidation and cybersecurity needs

Matt Sanceros, Grand County IT director, presented the 2026 IT budget on Oct. 3 and asked the advisory board to support modest increases for travel, professional services, off‑premise backups and radio maintenance while calling attention to county-wide software licensing consolidation and cybersecurity initiatives.

Sanceros said his overall budget has not changed dramatically from 2025. He requested small travel increases for staff attendance at security- and operations-related conferences and said professional services pay for cloud workspace, website hosting and occasional project support. He described a planned decrease in an on-premise backup purchase this year while keeping a future budget line available to harden storage and replace end-of-life systems later.

A recurring theme in the discussion was software licensing and subscription overlap. Board members noted multiple Canva and Adobe subscriptions across departments; Sanceros said all software procurement and technology should go through the IT office and that he conducts software audits to inventory who is using what. He warned that some perpetual-license models are ending and that enterprise subscriptions can become costly; he said negotiated enterprise agreements (Adobe Enterprise Suite was cited) can reduce county-wide costs when procured centrally.

On cybersecurity, Sanceros described managed detection and response (MDR) and logging/analytics subscriptions that would be costly for a county of Grand’s size if purchased solely from county funds. He said some state and federal grant programs have subsidized these services for local governments; the IT office will continue pursuing grant-funded options but kept a budget line in reserve in case grant funding is not available.

Radio maintenance and tower-site access delays were discussed; Sanceros asked that an annual line for radio maintenance remain in the budget because permitting and access issues have delayed past projects. He also noted small operational items such as a cell-phone stipend; staff clarified the stipend policy and the budget line was adjusted within the packet.

The board asked IT to work with departments to populate a software-used field in budget worksheets so the county can better identify duplication and licensing needs. Sanceros said he already runs audits, enforces licensing compliance, and will coordinate with department heads to produce an inventory and centralized procurement plan.

No formal votes were taken on IT items; the board indicated support for more detailed line-item backing (hotel, training, per-employee travel counts) when departments submit final budgets.