Sheriff asks board to forward five‑year Axon contract amendment; Ways & Means concurs
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Summary
Sheriff Tom Reich and staff urged forwarding a five‑year amended contract with Axon (body‑worn cameras, tasers, interview‑room recording, VR training) to the full board, arguing cost effectiveness and vendor continuity; commissioners expressed concern about price increases and lack of competitive bids. Committee voted to send the contract to the full board for final approval.
Sheriff Tom Reich asked the Ways & Means Committee to forward a proposed five‑year Axon contract amendment to the full Eaton County Board of Commissioners for final approval.
Reich described Axon as the county’s existing vendor for body‑worn cameras, dash cameras and interview‑room recording, and he said the amendment includes equipment refreshes and new items — including tasers and VR training that he said will reduce certification cartridge use. Reich told commissioners the amendment would avoid a larger cost spike if the county waited two years to renegotiate and emphasized continuity advantages with the widely used vendor.
Commissioners pressed the sheriff and staff on whether alternatives had been solicited and on the scale of the price increase. Administration staff said the Delta Township portion of the amendment — which added items requested by Delta — accounted for a meaningful share of the increase and that the amendment segments the county into units so parts can be added or dropped without violating the whole contract. Technology staff explained an equipment‑refresh schedule is built into the amendment and that Axon will provide training and ongoing refreshes throughout the contract life.
After discussion, the committee reached consensus to move the proposed amendment to the full board for consideration. Finance staff later noted that adopting the amended contract will require a budget amendment that increases proceeds from borrowing and capitalized computer costs (GASB capitalization for multi‑year contracts); administration estimated the total contracted cost would be approximately $1.6 million but said the funding structure would be offset across affected units.
The committee took no final procurement decision at the Ways & Means level; the item will appear before the full board with accompanying budget amendments and contract documentation.