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Cowlitz County finance staff review IT operating and reserve funds, note vacancies and planned outsourcing
Summary
Finance staff briefed the Cowlitz County commissioners on two IT funds, reporting about $5.2 million in operating revenue, $5.1 million in reserve resources and three vacancies in the IT department; staff said the county plans some outsourcing for specialty work and expects a budget amendment later this year.
Susie Moon, Cowlitz County finance manager, told the Board of County Commissioners the county’s IT operating fund and IT reserve fund are both funded but show timing variances as the department works through vacancies and scheduled renewals.
“So overall, they have about 5,200,000.0 budgeted in revenues,” Moon said, describing the operating fund. She said the largest source of that revenue is charges billed to other county departments for IT goods and services, billed annually in January. Moon added the county budgeted about $80,000 in miscellaneous operating revenue, “mainly be investment earnings.”
Moon explained personnel costs are currently below the monthly target because the department “does have 3 vacancies,” and licenses and annual renewals often fall in the third or fourth quarter, which also affects year-to-date comparisons. She said the county recorded an accounting entry related to subscription or subscription-like IT arrangements that added about $176,000 in debt-service-style reporting that was not budgeted, which affected the transfers line for the fund.
An IT staff member who participated online said the county intends to use third-party vendors for some specialized services rather than immediately filling every vacancy. “One of those positions has been vacant because the intent is not to replace that position, with a FTE, right, a regular employee, but to use a third party, service as for that specialty service,” the staff member said.
On the reserve fund, Moon said the county is budgeting about $5.1 million factoring the beginning fund balance; miscellaneous revenue is roughly $200,000 and the county is on target for about $65,000 of that so far. She said the county expects to submit a budget amendment in August to record insurance recoveries; the dollar amount for that amendment “is not sure at this time,” Moon said.
Moon also outlined planned reserve spending: supplies in the reserve include $491,000 set aside to replace rugged laptops for the sheriff’s department, and services include about $300,000 of a $424,000 budget for professional services tied to previously purchased tools such as disaster recovery and backup implementations. She noted the reserve fund does not include FTEs and is intended to cover equipment replacement and licensing.
The commissioners asked about how the annual transfer into reserves (about $402,000 in the current budget) is calculated; Moon said that formula is established in the budget process and that she will follow up to provide details. The IT staff member said the finance office and IT collaborate to estimate the total asset replacement needs during budget cycles.
Commissioners and staff agreed the county is refining its asset-replacement planning year to year and will monitor vacancies, outsourcing options and the pending budget amendment.
Ending: Moon said staff will return with additional details on the reserve-transfer calculation and any specific dollar amounts tied to the anticipated insurance-recovery budget amendment.
