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IT director urges website redesign, ADA fixes and security upgrades in 2026 capital ask
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Summary
IT director presented a $699,430 operating budget driven by software licensing and proposed capital for website redesign, ADA compliance, firewall replacement, Office 365 Copilot pilot and a town‑wide payment portal to expand online payments.
Krista, the township IT director, presented the IT operating and capital budgets and outlined priorities for 2026, saying software licensing is the largest operating pressure and that capital requests will focus on cybersecurity, accessibility and user services.
She told the council the IT operating budget is proposed at roughly $699,430; the bulk of it is software licensing (about $522,910) and rising vendor rates. Krista said the capital package includes routine computer/server refreshes, municipal LAN upgrades, door access and video surveillance expansion at public safety facilities, and funding for a single payment portal to let multiple departments accept credit‑card payments online and at kiosks.
Krista said the current website contains more than 4,000 pages and does not have tools to identify ADA compliance gaps; she recommended a redesign and migration that would add CMS‑level checks for broken links, readable PDFs and metadata so screen readers can interpret images. She also proposed replacement firewalls and SCADA‑server upgrades tied to water system security; IT noted that some surveillance and SCADA items are NJDEP‑required for water facilities.
Council members asked about costs and rollout timing; Krista said the migration would be about nine months and that a monthly billing folding/mailing machine for the water utility was also being requested to support a potential move from quarterly to monthly billing. No vote was taken; IT and finance staff will continue refining the scope before budget adoption.
