Councilors push for clearer accounting of website and IT costs as city switches accounting software

Councilors pressed staff to clarify website-related spending that appears in both the executive and IT department budgets. Councilor concerns centered on ease of review: when similar line items sit in multiple departments, it is harder for reviewers to understand total spend for a function.

Jose, identified in the meeting as the IT director, said website hosting and some IT functions are run under state contracts and the city uses a mix of in-house staff (a webmaster within the executive office) and third-party vendors for specialized services. He explained that some vendor-controlled areas (for example, accessibility/Vendor Product Accessibility Template compliance) and components tied to public‑safety systems remain managed under IT for security and compatibility reasons. The mayor and other councilors described an overhead-allocation process that assigns portions of executive webmaster time to enterprise funds such as sanitation and wastewater for work that benefits those departments.

The finance director said historical spending and trend reports exist and can be produced; staff noted the city is moving to a new accounting system that will provide new budget reports and that historical reporting will be built into that system. Councilors requested a consolidated view of website-related hosting, maintenance, accessibility compliance and promotional web work so they can assess the total planned spending and whether items can be moved to single line locations for easier review.

Why it matters: web services and IT security touch many city services and are ongoing costs that will recur annually. Councilors said consolidated, transparent reporting would assist future oversight and possible reallocation decisions.

Source: IT director and executive-branch staff, remarks during the budget work session. No decisions were made at the meeting.