County keeps IT replacement reserve intact, proposes no capital charge for 2026–27

Kathy Funk Baxter, finance director, and Travis (IT staff) presented the county’s internal IT cost allocation to the Board of County Commissioners and proposed no capital‑replacement assessment for 2026–27 because the fund’s reserves exceed current replacement estimates. Baxter said the IT reserve is about $3.9 million while the estimated cost to replace most major IT equipment is roughly $3.2 million in today’s dollars; with inflation factored the need would be around $3.7 million. "Our reserve is sitting at $3,900,000, and the cost to actually replace most major pieces of equipment, is sitting at about 3,200,000.0 right now in today's dollars," Baxter said. The county’s allocation methodology remains 50% based on device counts (desktops, laptops, tablets — about 653 devices cited) and 50% on FTE count (about 583 FTEs cited). Billing for 2026 will reflect a roughly $600,000 reduction made possible by applying last year’s underspending to current bills rather than continuing to accumulate a large operating balance. Travis explained the reserve uncertainty stems in part from an unknown future for the county’s PeopleSoft enterprise system and whether a replacement would be capital‑heavy (large up‑front cost) or subscription based (operational expense). He noted industry trends toward subscription models and cloud hosting shift some former capital needs into recurring operating costs. The IT presentation listed several software cost pressures for 2026, including records‑management and security tools (intrusion detection, vulnerability management, managed detection and response), and an upcoming SonicWall replacement with a higher license cost after a security issue earlier in the year. Commissioners asked whether moving services to a subscription model would reduce upfront replacement needs; Travis said subscription models often shift costs to recurring fees and do not necessarily reduce the county’s overall long‑term spend. The board also discussed telecom billing: because past investments in phone infrastructure are amortized (for example a prior $750,000 PBX upgrade), reducing phone lines now produces only modest variable savings while fixed amortized costs remain. IT has started centralizing panic‑button installations and will bill departments over a long amortization of prior installations (10 years was used as the recovery period in the presentation). Baxter said recent panic‑button installs represent a small annual allocation (about $1,324 in the presentation) and that IT will standardize models and billing over time. Ending: The commissioners accepted the presentation and asked staff to return with supporting inventory spreadsheets and follow‑up information about PeopleSoft replacement options during the budget process.