Tamarac Commission ratifies additional Microsoft licensing payments, approves $90,000 cap after debate over procurement

The Tamarac City Commission voted 5-0 on Sept. 24 to ratify additional payments to SHI International Corp. related to the city’s Microsoft enterprise licensing and to authorize up to $90,000 to cover outstanding and anticipated true-up charges for fiscal year 2025.

City staff said the charges arose from annual “true up” usage invoices and smaller purchases during the year under the city's Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, which the CIO said the city has run since about 2010. James Quigga, the city’s chief information officer, told the commission: “An enterprise agreement is a 3 year agreement with Microsoft that helps us ensure the best pricing available.” He described the $217,000 annual base cost for the enterprise agreement and said additional true-up and product purchases pushed vendor spending above the city manager’s spending threshold.

The purchase before the commission combined a $74,742.02 invoice the staff asked the body to ratify and an immediate invoice of $6,580.68. City staff asked the commission to authorize a small additional contingency (about $8,000) to capture any further September invoices; commissioners accepted a friendly amendment raising the authorization to $90,000 total. Commissioner Crystal Patterson moved the action; Vice Mayor Daniel seconded it, and the vote was recorded as yes from all five commissioners.

The discussion focused on procurement procedures and the city’s relationship with SHI. Staff explained SHI is a reseller designated on a State of Florida contract used to purchase Microsoft licenses under a state contract (often called a “piggyback” on the state contract). Commissioner Debra Bolton pressed staff for backup documentation, quotes, and the history of expenditures with SHI; staff said the Microsoft license agreement itself is with Microsoft and SHI acts as the reseller/agent under the state contract, and that prior spending sometimes was handled via the enterprise agreement and sometimes via SHI invoices for other smaller items. Finance staff reported the city had spent about $290,222.80 with SHI since 2024, with the three-year enterprise agreement costing roughly $217,000 per year.

Commissioners also questioned whether the city’s interlocal IT services agreement with Southwest Ranches — which shares the Microsoft licensing costs with a markup — was being reviewed and whether the ILA should be re-examined. City staff said the interlocal remains under annual review as a performance measure and that Southwest Ranches is billed for its actual license usage plus a 15% markup.

City Attorney and staff advised that piggybacking off an authorized state contract is permissible in Florida procurement and that the issue before the commission was ratifying expenditures that exceeded the city manager’s spending threshold. The commission’s action was limited to the ratification and authorization of the specified amount; no new multi-year contract was before the commission.

Commissioners requested clearer backups on future consent items and asked that staff provide detailed vendor quotes and the procurement history in future materials. The manager and CIO said they would return more detail in future agenda materials and continue to coordinate with purchasing and finance to reduce unplanned true-up risk.

The commission’s vote concluded the item. Staff and the commissioning members said they would provide additional documentation in follow-up and review the ILA with Southwest Ranches and procurement practices.