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IT budget hearing: county IT seeks help‑desk hire and consolidates software spending; Records Force contract approved
Summary
County IT presented budget changes including a proposed $65,000 help‑desk hire and consolidation of software licensing. Commissioners approved a Records Force contract to scan and index county paper records and asked the Municipal Records Committee to confirm retention of official paper minutes.
Justin, presenting the Information Technology budget, asked commissioners to add funding for a help‑desk position (about $65,000) to cover operations if the current senior IT contractor does not continue. He said the county plans to consolidate departmental software licensing into a single IT line, moving multiple departmental charges into centralized maintenance and licensing.
Justin told commissioners the consolidated software budget would grow because the county intends to centralize licenses previously charged to individual departments; new equipment needs were reduced from prior estimates. He also described backup procedures for a vendor scanning project and explained that primary backups would be kept on county‑controlled storage with a secondary offline backup updated monthly and an offsite tape copy.
Commissioners moved, seconded and approved an electronic‑records agreement with Records Force (a Portsmouth vendor) to scan and index the county’s remaining paper files. Justin and other staff clarified the county will retain its data, keep offline backups, and will ask the Municipal Records Committee to record in writing whether paper minutes and certain other documents should be retained in perpetuity.
Justin said the IT plan envisions a three‑person core team for ongoing operations (including the proposed hire), added contracted support where necessary, and proposed consolidating copier and licensing contracts to achieve efficiencies.
