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Council hears budget pitch for IT specialist and records administrator as open-records requests surge
Summary
City Administrator Chris Engel presented two proposed full-time positions -- an IT technology specialist already included in the draft budget and a records administrator proposed to address a sharp rise in open-records requests. Council discussed fee options, potential cost offsets and operational impacts but took no immediate vote.
MERRIAM, Kan.
City Administrator Chris Engel told the Merriam City Council the proposed 2026 budget includes a technology specialist in information technology and that staff are seeking direction on a records-administrator position to handle a significant increase in open-records requests. Engel said the IT post is already built into the draft budget; the records position is not yet included and remains under consideration.
Engel said the IT position would be embedded in the IT department (pay grade K) with a salary range of roughly $60,200 to $88,500 and a total compensation estimate of about $97,500. He said the position would handle routine help-desk work, daily user support and training, and provide continuity so the city is not dependent on one long-tenured IT employee. "This position would allow most of the daily internal maintenance of our IT to fall to this particular position," Engel said, adding that contracted support has been expensive and the city is currently paying about $3,040,000 annually for some contracted IT services in the budget.
Engel…
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