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Shawnee County IT seeks funding for software subscriptions, web CMS and fiber to North Community Center
Summary
IT Director Mark Price told commissioners the 2026 IT request rises due to subscription licensing changes (Microsoft), a proposed content-management system, ongoing security camera maintenance and a proposal to install county-owned fiber to the North Community Center to replace a 10 Mbps connection.
Mark Price, director of Information Technology, told the commission that the county’s IT budget shows a substantial increase driven largely by a shift from perpetual software licenses to subscription models, planned website and accessibility improvements, and infrastructure projects including a proposed fiber connection to the North Community Center.
Price said a move away from perpetual Microsoft Office licensing toward an annual subscription model accounts for the largest single contractual increase in the IT budget (presenter cited a $269,000 increase in that line item). He also requested $95,000 for first-year implementation of a content-management system to allow departments more self-service web publishing and to improve ADA accessibility on the county website, plus $30,000 for security-camera and system maintenance that had not been budgeted previously.
Why it matters: Price said the North Community Center (near 46th and Topeka Boulevard) currently receives a Cox Metro Ethernet connection of about 10 megabits per second serving multiple county facilities (community center, pool, household hazardous waste, parks maintenance and a sheriff facility). He said staff propose installing county fiber, coordinated with the Rochester Road project, to provide substantially faster, more reliable service and support public Wi-Fi at the pool and other facilities.
Price told commissioners the fiber project would use conduit installed during the Rochester Road roadwork to reduce construction costs. He estimated roughly 30 workstations are currently supported at that campus and said the county’s existing circuit is “significantly less than most people would even have at home.”
Other items in the IT request include continued tech-refresh funding for desktop replacements, increases in telecom handset support, and a countywide archive and ADA-compliance tools. Price said the Nutanix primary system did not require an increase and that two vacant IT positions were in recruitment.
Next steps: Price said IT will continue to refine costs and timelines; commissioners asked about current connectivity and whether Wi-Fi at the pool is feasible now (Price said there is no Wi-Fi at the pool and that the proposed fiber would enable county-hosted Wi-Fi and better cellular coverage around the facility).
