Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Information Technology topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Coconino County IT presents digital-transformation, cybersecurity and broadband plans; warns FY28 funding cliff
Summary
Coconino County’s IT division told the Board of Supervisors on May 14 that one-time stimulus funds enabled major infrastructure upgrades this year but warned those reserves will likely be exhausted by FY28, exposing an ongoing lifecycle funding need.
Coconino County’s Information Technology division briefed the Board of Supervisors on May 14 about digital-transformation projects funded with one-time federal stimulus dollars, routine lifecycle needs and an expected funding “cliff” in fiscal 2028 if the county does not identify sustainable revenue for recurring infrastructure replacement.
IT Chief Matt Fowler and Deputy/Business leads described how roughly $4 million in non-ARPA “revenue loss” stimulus funds have been stewarded to support enterprise upgrades (a new storage array, next-generation firewalls, network micro-segmentation, disaster-recovery appliances and digital transformation grants to other departments). Fowler said the stimulus funds allowed purchases that would otherwise have been large one-time capital proposals to the general fund.
IT also summarized operational work in FY25: more than 5,500 service tickets handled by Service Delivery, about 250 enterprise business applications under management, and a data-center systems team that patched roughly 51,000 vulnerabilities. The department said it has helped operationalize multiple field connectivity projects for public safety (Lake Powell vessel connectivity and Starlink use in remote patrol areas) and worked on the recorder’s NARA grant digitization project.
Fowler said IT is near completion of the enterprise Windows 11 migration (Windows 10 patches stop being supported in February per Microsoft’s schedule) and reported no confirmed cybersecurity incident in the fiscal year — a continuity record the department emphasized. Matt Malik and Billy Holloway (Chief Information Security Officer) were credited for identity and email-protection work and for maintaining governance, risk and compliance programs.
IT staff described a multi-year network refresh lifecycle target and said a $300,000 annual capital-life-cycle allocation has historically been requested to cover roughly 20% of an estimated $1.5 million network lifecycle cost; Fowler said that allocation has been self-funded from digital-transformation reserves in FY23–FY26 and that FY28 is the first year the department expects the one-time funds to be expended without replacement. The department listed as recommended items for future consideration: a 5-year network-life-cycle funding stream, data-center connectivity upgrades (10-gig Internet circuit) to enable hybrid-cloud options and expanded device lifecycle funding.
Supervisors asked about rural broadband and whether federal or state program changes had affected county plans; Fowler said the Arizona Commerce Authority’s BEAD-like process for ISPs is ongoing and county staff is monitoring allocations, and that digital-equity funding uncertainties are under observation but had not yet halted county planning. Several board members praised IT’s broadband and Starlink work for remote deputies and county operations.
The department recommended continued investment in device management (Microsoft Intune, data-loss prevention) and artificial-intelligence governance; it also outlined an annual training and governance schedule and said it will bring a 5-year IT strategic plan to the board for review.
