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Ethics Commission seeks one‑time IT upgrades; Merit System board asks to convert ED to full time
Summary
The Ethics Commission requested a one‑time $360,000 IT upgrade (reduced from an initial $560,000 estimate) to modernize three legacy systems, while the Merit System Protection Board proposed converting its executive director from 0.75 FTE to full time to accelerate case processing; the committee recommended forwarding both items to full Council for consideration.
Two smaller agencies presented FY26 requests that the committee agreed to forward to full Council.
The Ethics Commission said it asked the County Executive for one‑time funding to modernize three aging systems: the financial disclosure system, the lobbying registration/reporting system, and the outside‑employment online system. Staff reported an initial TEBS estimate of $560,000 that was negotiated down to $360,000; the Commission argued that updating all three systems together is cheaper and avoids higher costs if failures occur. The Commission asked the committee to consider the relatively modest, one‑time request given the systems’ age (the oldest system was brought online in 2011 and the main financial disclosure system in 2015).
Ed Henfling Jr., executive director of the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB), explained the board’s recommended FY26 increase of $65,938 (21.45%) largely funds converting the executive director position from 0.75 FTE to full time to reduce case processing delays. Henfling said direct appeals best‑case timelines are six months (currently over a year) and on‑the‑record appeals best‑case are three months (currently around six months). He argued additional executive‑director hours would enable faster legal research, writing, and timelier decisions.
Committee members expressed support for the budget recommendations and asked staff for more detail on TEBS proposals and implementation risks; both items were recommended to the full Council.
What’s next: Council staff will include the one‑time Ethics Commission IT request and the MSPB staffing change in the full Council packet and seek further TEBS cost details as requested.
