County outlines internal service fund rates, highlights broadband, radio and cybersecurity projects

Ventura County officials on Feb. 11 presented the county’s proposed internal service fund (ISF) rates for fiscal year 2025–26 and described how those rates will support a slate of large technology and infrastructure projects including a pending broadband grant, a countywide radio replacement, upgrades to property-tax and criminal-justice systems, and continued investments in facility energy projects and fleet electrification.

County information-technology leadership said the IT internal service fund budget proposed for next year is about $71.5 million, reflecting labor cost increases and the start of several major programs. “It’s coming fast. It’s coming furious,” IT Services’ Terry Theobald said of artificial intelligence and related investments, describing a countywide AI policy and both generative and embedded AI work. Theobald outlined key projects the ISF will help fund: a property-tax replacement system with an estimated cost of about $18 million and planned primary completion by June 2025; a $44 million criminal-justice information systems (CJIS) modernization that is being phased in across…