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Commission hears IT department preliminary budget; representative says in‑house work and MCT program will cut costs
Summary
At a preliminary hearing April 30, the Lincoln County Commission heard the IT department say multi‑year cuts reduced its budget to about 203 and that moving services in‑house and using a new MCT program should reduce Microsoft licensing costs; no vote was taken.
Lincoln County commissioners on April 30 held a preliminary hearing on the IT department’s budget, during which the department’s representative said the office has trimmed costs over several years and expects further reductions next year by shifting to in‑house systems and a new “MCT” program provided by Mako.
The hearing opened with the presiding official announcing the IT budget as the first agenda item and confirming commissioners had copies of the submitted packet, including the latest figures "from Dallas," and directing members to page three of the document.
At the hearing, the IT department representative said, "I've been trying to cut my budget over the past four years. And so far, I went from uh 255 or 250 down to 203. And I'm hoping next year I'll be under 200 with the cooperation of Mako's uh new program, the MCT program." The representative described rebuilding the county’s network with in‑house equipment to avoid paying vendors for equipment and management and cited that change as one reason licensing costs have fallen.
Commissioners asked for specifics about the assumptions used in the submitted budget. One commissioner asked whether a common percentage was applied across line items; the response was that a 1.5% COLA (cost‑of‑living adjustment) was used and the packet referenced an "8 point internship" as an averaging assumption. When a commissioner asked, "What are you paying those licensing fees out of right now?" the IT representative replied that licensing is currently charged to the "200 supplies" line item.
The IT representative said many tasks previously contracted out are now handled internally, noting skills obtained in military service that enabled the shift. Commissioners thanked the representative for serving a broad county technology need as effectively as possible while noting the challenges of being a single‑person department and offered help with equipment setup.
The commission recessed until 10:00 a.m. for administrative and old business. The transcript records no formal motion or vote on the IT budget during this session.
