Tim Wyatt presents AI use cases and frames IT budget increases, requests two IT hires

Tim Wyatt told the York County Board of Supervisors at the March 26 work session that the county's information-technology operation has deployed multiple artificial-intelligence tools for staff productivity, citizen services and infrastructure inspection, and that the department needs new staffing and contract changes to manage growing demand.

Wyatt, introduced by county staff as the presenter, said the department recently ranked in the top 10 nationally for several years and won first place this past year in a category comparison. He described five AI use cases underway, including Office 365 generative tools for staff productivity, a website chatbot that answers resident questions and allows residents to request follow-up, an AI avatar used for consistent training delivery, a code-generation workflow used to rapidly build a small web application (address-to-recycling-day lookup), and a vendor product (PipeAid) that analyzes drone sewer footage to map cracks and prioritize repairs.

"AI amplifies people," Wyatt said. "It makes good people great, but it also can make bad people terrible." He emphasized that county policy requires staff to avoid submitting sensitive data to generative tools, and that all AI outputs must be reviewed by a person before being relied on for county work: "When we get a response, you should treat it like it's from a person... Before I give it to Mr. Bellamy, I'm gonna review it. I'm going to fact check it."

On budget, Wyatt said software inflation and licensing changes are the primary drivers of a proposed increase to the IT budget. He told supervisors the department faces roughly an $800,000 increase driven in part by a 7.5% rise in software costs and by a vendor acquisition that prompted higher renewal rates; in the same section of the presentation he described the net department increase in the slides as about a half-million dollars (approximately 16% of the IT department budget), language he used to summarize overall impact to next year's request.

To address operational risk and expand automation, Wyatt asked the board to fund three IT enhancements and two new positions. The enhancements were listed as a UKG time-management supplemental (Wyatt said $60,000 implementation and $40,000 ongoing subscription), higher-resolution aerial mapping for GIS (3-inch imagery, frequency and price options discussed), and other platform renewals; the two requested positions were a business applications technician (to support tax, ERP and time systems) and a database administrator whose duties would include AI automation oversight, data permissions and integration work.

Wyatt framed the staffing requests as needed to "double the capability" for automation and to reduce single-person dependencies that pose payroll and financial risks. He also cited multiyear renewals and longer-term contracts as cost-management strategies to mitigate vendor-driven price spikes.

Board members asked technical and policy questions about guardrails, whether AI would replace jobs, and details about the proposed positions; Wyatt said AI will change tasks but that staff with expertise would still be required to review AI outputs and to maintain systems. The presentation closed with supervisors requesting job descriptions and cost breakdowns for the new positions and enhancements before final budget approval.

Wyatt concluded by noting the county has not experienced ransomware incidents on its network and said the IT team is preparing defenses that incorporate AI because attackers are using the same technologies.

The board did not take a formal vote on the budget items at the work session; staff will return with follow-up materials and job descriptions.