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IT director outlines hardware replacement, GIS transfer from assessor and proposed pay adjustments
Summary
County IT staff asked the board to recommend capital funding for a core switch (~$128,570), described an internal transfer of GIS staff and contract from the Assessor's Office, and proposed salary parity adjustments including higher compensation for senior systems engineers; the board recommended the budget.
IT leadership presented the department’s capital and operating budget requests and explained a transfer of GIS staff and contractual responsibility from the Assessor’s Office to County MIS.
The IT presenter said the capital request includes replacement of core switching hardware and quoted a vendor estimate of $128,570. "For our capital budget this year, we are asking for an increase because we do need to replace our core switching hardware, that's now 7 years old... So that's the increase there from last year," Speaker 5 said.
On operating costs, staff said a 5% increase in maintenance and operations (M&O) is a standard planning assumption to cover software renewal inflation. The presenter explained that the GIS program, its contract and two staff (named in the transcript as Tim and Gabe) will transfer into MIS and that most GIS-related amounts are transfers from the Assessor’s Office rather than new county money. "So it's not it's not new money... it's gonna be coming from the assessor's office into ours," Speaker 5 said.
Staff sought to address pay parity across county IT positions. The presenter described turnover to higher-paying employers and proposed pay adjustments; for example, the department requested raising senior engineer pay toward $90,000. The transcript records internal comparisons to Tulsa County and other local government IT salaries as the benchmark for adjustment; staff said the year-over-year budget increase attributable to salary changes and full-year funding for transferred employees was on the order of $180,000.
Board members asked for documentation showing position-by-position comparisons (internal and external) and detailed calculations for the proposed adjustments; staff agreed to provide comparative tables and to include detailed figures when making the Estimate and Needs presentation.
Action: A member moved and another seconded a motion recommending the IT/MIS budget as presented. The transcript records the board voting "Aye. Aye," and the motion was recorded as recommended for approval.
Why it matters: The capital hardware replacement affects county network reliability and security. The GIS transfer consolidates a countywide function under MIS, shifting staffing and contract responsibility between offices. Proposed pay adjustments aim to reduce turnover in critical IT roles.
What’s next: Staff will provide the requested internal and external salary comparisons and a detailed breakdown of the salary and fringe calculations for the board’s review.
