IT presents $2M-plus in one-year savings, seeks senior network engineer for camera and security work

Tom Sullivan, the county's chief information officer, summarized major IT cost reductions tied to a countywide PC rollout and related in-house modernization work, telling the committee: "We saved quite a bit of money there, almost 1000000 dollars just on the equipment itself." He added the county avoided other costs by retaining in-house labor and three-year warranties, putting total one-year savings "a little bit over $2,000,000."

Tom and Chris Stackbar, introduced in the meeting as the county CTO, presented a supplemental package that includes one proposed senior network engineer position to own enterprise physical-security systems (Genetec video and Synergous access control) and to restore general network engineering capacity. Chris framed the request as an operational alignment rather than a new function, saying, "So, really what we're looking for is a a senior network engineer position, for this physical security security infrastructure." The proposal included a starting salary figure ($91,403) and internal-vs-contract comparisons showing material savings over contracting out continuous 24/7 security support.

Committee members asked for further budget breakdowns: payroll burden (full salary-plus-benefits), capital vs. operating distinctions, and the expected overtime or workload impact on current staff if the position is not added. IT officials said some projects required weekend and overtime work during the PC rollout and that bringing skills in-house reduced vendor costs and improved responsiveness. The committee requested supplemental sheets with financing options (buy vs. lease) and clearer payroll-burden presentation ahead of final budget decisions.