White House council tables interlocal IT-services agreement with Tyler after debate over CPI cap

The White House City Council on Jan. 28, 2025 tabled action on an interlocal agreement with the City of Tyler for computer support services after members pushed staff for more data on how annual price increases would be calculated.

City staff presented the proposed five‑year interlocal agreement and explained how the agreement would accommodate future cost increases. Leslie Black, a city staff member, said the city had asked Tyler to include a consumer‑price index (CPI) clause after receiving a sudden 20% increase in charges in a prior update, and that including CPI in the contract was intended to “better justify any increases and making sure that we were keeping up with that over time.”

Brian, a representative of Tyler IT Services, told council members the department had proposed language that would allow annual adjustments and said the city’s information‑technology CPI averages had been higher than general CPI in recent years. “We can’t go with 4. It’s a little bit higher than that just to meet our, you know, expenses and stuff like that,” Brian said when asked whether Tyler could accept a 4% cap rather than a higher adjustment. He said the department’s calculation referenced both IT‑specific indices and regional indicators, and that cybersecurity and third‑party vendor costs had driven recent increases.

Council members pressed for the underlying CPI calculations and requested historical data showing how a locked 5% cap or a CPI linkage would have affected payments over the proposed five‑year term. “If we’re gonna do a locked in rate, it would be good to have data that kinda shows how we reached that average over the 5 years so that we don’t lock in a rate that’s beyond what we should be paying,” one council member said during debate.

Councilmember Zach Frisco moved to table the item pending the additional CPI documentation; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. City staff said they will return with the requested CPI figures and supporting documentation at the February council meeting.

The contract as drafted would add support for the city center building and redundant fiber; staff noted some current services have already been provided under the existing arrangement and that the new charges would apply to added services. The council and staff repeatedly praised the responsiveness of Tyler IT Services during the discussion.

Next steps: staff will provide the CPI calculations and vendor‑cost detail requested by council, and the interlocal agreement will be brought back for consideration at the February meeting.