Nixa council approves emergency budget amendment and three-year IT services contract

The Nixa City Council on July 22 approved an emergency ordinance amending the 2025 budget by $246,674.19 to appropriate funds for information technology services and, by separate resolution, authorized the city administrator to sign a three-year contract with Forwardslash Technology LLC for managed IT and cybersecurity services. The council approved both measures unanimously.

City Administrator Jimmy Lyles said staff began a formal review of the city’s IT arrangements to move from a “break-fix” approach toward a managed IT model and selected Forwardslash after evaluating vendors that serve municipalities. “It was time to review our current IT services,” Lyles said, adding the vendor “is well equipped to scale with us in the future” and to support specialized systems used across departments such as public safety and utilities. Lyles told council the budget amendment covers the first year of the new service agreement while allowing the city to finish payments to the outgoing provider.

The contract approved by resolution 2025-36 includes managed help-desk support during core hours, cybersecurity services, remote monitoring and management (RMM), and hardware/asset management. The city will receive a staffed help desk (7 a.m.–6 p.m., Monday–Friday) and a vendor commitment to have a preconfigured replacement computer ready within four hours when hardware fails. The agreement is structured as a three-year initial term with an annual increase of 11% for years two and three and, if extended, an 8% increase for years four and five. Staff noted the core managed services labor rate in the proposal is $95 per hour.

Council members asked for context on existing IT spending and transition risk. Lyles and staff said the city has paid in excess of $100,000 per year for managed-type services and additional hourly charges under the prior arrangement; that prior approach made budgeting unpredictable because the city bought blocks of hours and paid overages. Lyles said the managed model makes budgeting simpler by bundling many recurring services into a known annual cost while allowing for separate charges when new hardware or out-of-scope software is required.

Staff described technical benefits of the new vendor’s RMM tool and network operations center, including remote patching scheduled after hours, continuous monitoring of servers and endpoints, and inventory-driven asset replacement recommendations (a 20% phased replacement approach suggested by the vendor). Council members also asked about reference checks; staff reported contacting multiple municipal references that spoke positively about the vendor’s transition work.

Formal actions recorded: motion to adopt council bill 2025-23 (the emergency budget amendment) was made by Councilmember Vest and seconded by Councilmember Aaron Peterson; roll-call votes recorded were unanimous in favor. The separate resolution authorizing execution of the contract with Forwardslash Technology LLC (resolution 2025-36) was moved by Councilmember Aaron Peterson, seconded by Councilmember Kelly Morris, and approved by unanimous voice/roll call.

Discussion (not formal direction) included council caution about entering long contracts, the effect of annual price escalators, and the city’s preference to avoid service interruptions during the vendor transition. The emergency ordinance designation was explained by Lyles as a procedural choice to avoid delays during the vendor transition period, not an indication of an IT incident.

The contract and budget amendment take effect immediately; staff will coordinate the transition schedule, complete asset inventory, and return to council if additional funding is required for out-of-scope hardware or software purchases.