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County IT director urges state to centralize procurement to lower subscription and vendor costs
Summary
Trempealeau County IT Director Tim Robertson urged legislators to consider statewide procurement and base-application contracts to reduce local subscription costs and counter vendor consolidation in public-safety technology.
Tim Robertson, Trempealeau County IT director, told visiting legislators that the shift from one-time software purchases to subscription licensing has driven up local costs and that consolidation among suppliers limits county bargaining power.
"Over the last 10 years, the IT budget has gone up 60%, but our levy dollar cost has gone up 100% because of these changes..." Robertson said. He described vendor consolidation in public-safety software and hardware markets and said small local governments face steep annual fees for essential systems.
Robertson asked the legislature to strengthen the state procurement department and to create statewide contracts or options for base applications — for example, office suites, payroll, financial packages and public-safety systems — so counties could buy in at lower, negotiated prices and share training and support.
He offered to provide a written paper on the idea and volunteered counties as local partners to maintain equipment or deliver services under state contracts. Legislators asked him to put the proposal in writing for use by the Wisconsin Counties Association and state procurement staff.
No statutory changes were proposed during the meeting; Robertson's request focused on procurement policy and statewide contracting to reduce local subscription burdens and improve interoperability.
