Council hears $692,095 IT budget increase driven by software, cybersecurity and capital upgrades
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Summary
At its March 10 budget hearing the Franklin Township Council reviewed a proposed $692,095 information-technology budget, a $201,794 rise mainly driven by software licensing and cybersecurity requirements and a multi-item capital plan that includes server, telephone and video-surveillance upgrades and SCADA work for water infrastructure.
At the March 10, 2025 Franklin Township Council budget hearing, Information Technology Director Krista Hegatus presented a proposed IT operating budget of $692,095, an increase of $201,794 over 2024, and described most of the rise as higher recurring software licensing costs and expenses needed to meet cybersecurity insurance requirements.
The increase is concentrated in software licensing, Hegatus said. “the software has increased about 10% across the board,” she told the council, and she identified additional purchases and service tiers tied to the township’s cyber insurance compliance as drivers of the change.
Why it matters: Council members and staff said the software spending and capital investments are tied to insurance and security requirements that affect all town systems, including payment and utility systems, and to end-of-life replacement needs that would otherwise expose the township to functional failures or security gaps.
Most of the operating increase sits in software licensing. Hegatus told the council she identified a $26,000 item that should be recharged to the water budget: “I did actually find a discrepancy, of 26,000 that will come off of this and will be and will be charged to water.” Council members agreed to move that line to the water budget for allocation to that department.
Hegatus and other staff described managed detection and response (MDR) software as a required element of the township’s cyber-insurance posture. When asked to define MDR, Hegatus said it is the active monitoring and blocking service the township uses: “that’s the software that actually monitors our network, to, let us know if there's anything coming in that shouldn't be, and it actually will block it, turn it, shut it down off the network, and then contact us.” The council discussion also referenced membership in the Central Jersey Joint Insurance Fund and a multi-tier cyber-insurance framework; staff said the fund expects municipalities to work toward higher compliance tiers.
Capital items reviewed alongside the operating request include a multi-year replacement and upgrade list: server and printer replacement ($85,000), server room uninterruptible power supply refurbishment ($50,000), a telephone system upgrade ($75,000), expanded indoor and outdoor video surveillance including cameras for municipal and public-safety blind spots ($75,000 and a separate outdoor line), municipal LAN/core switch replacements ($60,000), network expansion and resiliency work for municipal campus Wi‑Fi and fiber ($75,000), and other items such as Gazebo lighting and municipal court recording replacement. Hegatus said one larger GIS item (about $125,000) was deferred to 2026 after discussion.
Several IT capital lines connect to public-safety and water infrastructure needs. Staff told the council that additional cameras were requested for pump stations and water tanks because of identified vulnerabilities; the presentation said these vulnerabilities had been identified by the Department of Environmental Protection. The agenda also listed a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) server rebuild and firewall upgrade for water operations as capital lines; staff described the SCADA work as an upgrade of older servers and software that control pump stations, interconnects and valves.
Council members asked whether items could be postponed. Hegatus and administration staff replied that many items are end-of-life or insurance-driven; postponing could leave systems without security updates or support. The administration indicated some software costs would be reallocated to user departments (for example, water) when appropriate.
The council did not take a final operating-budget vote at the hearing; the IT request will be incorporated into later budget deliberations and the capital plan review.
The hearing continues at subsequent meetings where staff said they will provide follow-up detail on vendor quotes, the exact software items driving recurring costs, and the water recharges Hegatus identified.
