County administrator urges centralizing IT spending to cut general‑fund pressure

Jeff Taylor, the county administrator, told the council Wednesday that county staff intentionally increased the IT capital budget to ease general‑fund pressure and to combine subscriptions countywide.

“We rolled up a bunch of costs this year and got some good prices on subscriptions by combining everything rather than this department have theirs and that department have theirs,” Taylor said. He asked staff to identify which departments still have data‑processing hardware and software budgeted in their 1000 account so the county can move those lines into IT’s central budget.

Why it matters: Council members and staff said duplicative software and hardware purchases across departments hamper procurement, complicate maintenance and increase long‑term support needs. Consolidation into a single IT budget, they said, could let the county negotiate lower subscription rates and ensure standards for devices and security.

Discussion highlights: Taylor said his approach was meant to “take the pressure this year off of the general fund budget by building these costs into [the IT fund],” noting the IT fund’s cash balance can be drawn down short term but is not sustainable indefinitely. The administrator asked for a list showing which departments have data processing hardware or software in their 1000 account so the council could consider mass cuts and require additional appropriations for items that prove essential.

Councilors raised practical concerns: some departments use tablets and specialized devices for front‑line public services and said tablets can be cheaper and easier to maintain than full desktop rigs for singular purposes. The county attorney cautioned that transferring budget lines without confirming contracts and obligations could force departments to terminate and then re‑procure software mid‑year, so councilors discussed leaving a cushion in affected budgets to prevent contract disruption.

The discussion also covered specific examples mentioned in the packet: a $95,000 data‑processing services line (public defender) that appeared inside a department budget rather than IT’s consolidated accounts, and smaller departmental purchases such as tablets, printers and software licenses that staff said should move to IT to centralize procurement and maintenance.

Ending: Jeff Taylor said staff will work with IT and the auditor’s office to produce a list of departments that still have data‑processing lines outside IT so the council can consider targeted transfers or cuts in coming budget actions.