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Charlton finance hearing: IT director says current budget sufficient but flags fire‑substation tech and cloud costs
Summary
IT director Jeff Sorrell told the finance committee his department came in under budget and does not seek new operating funds, but flagged one‑time moves and recurring cloud and licensing costs tied to a new fire substation and an Axon body‑camera cloud migration.
Jeff Sorrell, the Town of Charlton’s IT director, told the finance committee that his department finished the year within budget and does not require additional funds for the coming year. “I don't need any additional funds for next year,” he said, summarizing his department’s request.
Sorrell described a number of internal reallocations and vendor changes that produced savings and new costs. He said the town moved $6,000 between accounts (account 5210 to 5211) to cover licensing and shifted a Pitney Bowes postage machine line to the municipal budget. He also said the town stopped using ClearGov and adopted LivX budgeting software and Harper applicant tracking, which reduced recurring costs.
At the same time, Sorrell said the department is absorbing increases from vendors and technology changes. He cited a cloud migration for the Barracuda email archiver that added about $5,000 to recurring costs and said the town elected to drop PRTG server‑monitoring after its vendor raised pricing from roughly $2,400 to about $8,000; Sorrell said a replacement product is being demoed and that the expected replacement cost is roughly $4,000.
Sorrell also outlined equipment and licensing needs for the new fire substation, which he said will house about 19 systems and multiple cameras and require additional software licensing, two‑factor authentication and antivirus seats. He told the committee the hardware costs are accounted for separately as capital, while the increased licensing will be a recurring budget item.
Committee members asked about connectivity and whether a cell or microwave tower might be required at the substation; Sorrell said he has contacted Verizon and that field testing is planned in the spring. Members also raised whether police body‑worn camera storage is an IT expense; Sorrell and police leaders said grants purchased initial camera equipment but cloud storage and discovery requirements are the primary ongoing cost.
The committee did not adopt new operating appropriations for IT at the hearing and directed staff to include the projected recurring licensing increases tied to the substation and cloud migrations in the FY27 budget materials.
The finance committee is scheduled to continue budget hearings in February and March; the committees will consider the substation’s full lifecycle costs when preparing capital and operating forecasts.
