At a Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners meeting (date not specified), Susie Moon, finance manager, presented the technology funds and internal service billings for the county’s information-technology (IT) accounts and said most budgeted internal billings have been received and no additional revenue is expected this year. "So our first line is gonna be goods and services. It has a budget of, just over 5,100,000, and we've brought in, that entire budget," Susie Moon said.

Cathy Fung Baxter, finance director, and Moon explained how the county allocates internal IT costs to operating departments. Moon said the county charges departments for IT services using a formula in which 50% of the allocation is based on number of devices and 50% is based on headcount. "IT, for example, it's pretty simple formula. It's based upon, 50% of their charge is based upon the number of devices, and 50% of the charge is based upon the number of headcount for that department," Moon said.

Commissioners asked whether the county uses written service-level agreements (SLAs) for internal service departments, and several said they wanted enforceable performance expectations between departments. Commissioner Raider (first name not specified in the transcript) said internal providers should be held to standards similar to external vendors: "I think we should have expectations between, people inside the county that provide service and the people that depend on that service." Finance staff said cost-allocation methodology and internal service units (IT, risk management, motor pool, facilities and about 10 other internal-service departments) will be discussed in an upcoming budget workshop.

Moon also described the county's technology reserve and recent purchases. She said the county had accumulated about $500,000 in a reserve for regular laptops but only spent about $150,000; the excess is planned to transfer to the sheriff’s equipment and technology-replacement fund. Moon said some rugged laptops and server replacements are encumbered or planned and that several subscription and license renewals occur in fourth quarter.

Travis (last name and title not specified) participated online and offered to answer follow-up questions about operational impacts on future purchases. After executive session, human-resources staff requested that an IT-director position be posted; commissioners approved posting the job.

Why it matters: commissioners asked for clearer documentation linking agenda items and contracts to budget lines before approval and for internal SLAs so departments understand expected deliverables and consequences for nonperformance.

Budget and next steps: finance staff said they will present the cost-allocation methodology and more detail at the county’s next budget workshop and will prepare budget amendments in quarter 4 to align certain lines (miscellaneous revenue, capital, and subscriptions) with year-to-date actuals.