Council directs citywide equipment inventory, considers a supply-logistics position and centralized purchasing

Anniston officials said the city will conduct a 100% inventory of all accountable equipment as part of the FY budget process, with March designated as inventory month. Staff explained the inventory will include IT equipment (laptops, monitors, TVs) and other nonexpendable items; furniture will be excluded.

City staff said they will implement barcode tagging to track serial numbers and house items in an electronic work-management system to enable maintenance tracking and clearer accountability. The finance director (Jessica) was cited as coordinating thresholds for automatic tagging, and staff discussed setting a dollar threshold for tagging purchases.

Councilors also discussed consolidating departmental purchasing — standardizing printers to reduce consumables costs and exploring a central purchasing agent — and one speaker said they may propose adding a supply logistics position to oversee equipment and property citywide.

Quote: “We’re going to do 100% inventory, get accountability of all equipment,” a speaker said, adding the plan will improve tracking and reduce unnecessary purchases.

Why it matters: better asset management can reduce waste, improve financial controls and lower ongoing operating costs. Establishing staff and systems to maintain inventories is a recurring municipal budget and administration issue.

Next steps: Departments will compile inventories in March, staff will deploy barcode tagging and recommend thresholds; council may consider a formal proposal to create a supply logistics position.