Jackson County adopts policy to record subscription-based IT agreements for audits

The Jackson County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to adopt a Subscription-Based Information Technology Agreements policy (CBITA), effective July 1, to comply with requirements from the state auditors to report outstanding lease and subscription values as of June 30 each year.

Auditor Lisa Smith and staff member Shelly told the board the policy requires the county to record the remaining value of leases and subscription agreements — including intangible subscriptions such as software licenses — as of June 30 for the auditor's report. Smith said the intent is to capture outstanding value on multi-year leases or subscriptions (for example, a five-year lease for a postage machine) and to treat subscription arrangements as intangible assets for reporting.

Board members asked several clarifying questions: how to calculate remaining value (Smith described prorating contract totals over term), whether the policy affects procurement rules (it does not), and whether intangible items used by outside offices (for example, attorney software) would be included (Smith said yes, if an agreement exists). Smith and Shelly said the auditor's office will email departments asking them to report agreements and that claims will also flag items that should be captured. The county will exclude payroll still not processed into the system as of the report date.

Supervisor Nen Fuego moved to adopt the CBITA policy; Supervisor Mike Steinas seconded. The board approved the motion by voice vote.

The meeting record does not include a department-level inventory; Auditor Smith said she will notify departments to report agreements going forward. The board set the policy effective July 1 and did not attach additional procurement changes during the meeting.