Story County reviews IT budget; proposes 43 Microsoft licenses, Starlink redundancy and hardware replacements

Story County supervisors and Information Technology staff discussed the county’s proposed fiscal-year IT budget during a Jan. 31 work session, focusing on a request to add 43 Microsoft accounts for seasonal and temporary staff, contingency plans for Internet outages using Starlink satellite service, ongoing UKG costs, participation in the MAPS (mapping/GIS) partnership, and a multi-year hardware and wireless replacement plan.

IT Director Joe Wakeman told the Board that the department changed its policy so interns and seasonal employees will receive individual Microsoft accounts rather than shared mailboxes. "That is a $12,000 annual ad for those 43, seasonal part time, etcetera positions," Wakeman said, adding the exact figure ($12,058) will be added to the data processing software initial purchase line (page 142 of the submitted budget). Wakeman said the county needs individual accounts so temporary election workers and others can complete required state cybersecurity training and access systems such as the voter registration database without relying on external Gmail accounts.

Wakeman also explained that the 43 licenses will be managed as a floating pool so the county can add or remove accounts month to month as staff rotate. "It's a floating pool of 43 licenses that we'll add," he said. The cost is strictly for Microsoft licensing, he said, and does not include new computers.

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