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Committee approves IT and dispatch budget lines; staff outline dark‑fiber, cybersecurity and staffing needs
Summary
Committee approved the commissioner's IT recommendation ($469,324) and accepted regional dispatch revenues after staff outlined dark‑fiber disaster‑recovery links, Microsoft subscription increases and cybersecurity and tech‑support staffing needs for the new EOC.
Budget advisory members approved the IT department budget and asked staff for more detailed capital and staffing breakdowns after a presentation on planned dark‑fiber connectivity and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) operations.
Staff explained the dark‑fiber link is intended to keep the county’s 75 terabytes of production data synchronized with a backup/disaster‑recovery site at the planned EOC. The EOC building cost was described as funded in part by ARPA (46%) and grants/other county funds (approximately 40%); staff cautioned that ARPA funds have commitment and spend deadlines.
IT and operations questions focused on: whether tech support would be filled by a contracted service or in‑house hire; the cybersecurity administrator’s salary currently funded from a reserve account; the addition of an entry‑level tech helpline position; and cloud and subscription software costs. Staff said Microsoft licensing and email services are subscription‑based now and estimated the county’s cost at about $35,000 annually for roughly 110 workstations.
On dispatch, staff described contracts covering direct dispatch for approximately 27 fire departments and several ambulance services, plus countywide PSAP/911 responsibilities for medical and fire calls. The committee approved $192,945 in contract revenue for RCC dispatch and discussed overtime and staffing pressures in the dispatch center.
Actions taken: the committee approved the IT budget recommendation and the RCC revenue line; staff will provide capital cost breakdowns and ARPA commitment details for commissioner review.
