County IT asks for small increases after Spillman upgrade, cites rising hardware costs

County technology and IT staff presented the 2027 request after a year during which the department pared non‑salary spending to a minimum.

Clayton Hoover, introduced by the chair as the county technology lead, noted the most significant near‑term item is a multi‑year payment for sheriff’s body cameras that was approved earlier this year. "The Spillman upgrade is complete finally, and we did get notification from the City of Liberal that they went ahead and paid it," Hoover said, describing how costs for core server hardware have climbed sharply this year.

Hoover told commissioners his department moved from a five‑year to a six‑year replacement rotation to manage rising memory and server prices; he said a server quote that was roughly $8,000 in December had nearly doubled by March. He also outlined a plan to replace about 15 desktop machines on a six‑year rotation and reported that the Spillman project — the county’s core public‑safety records system — came in far below initial estimates because the city paid its share and the project was split between communications, the city and county.

The IT request includes a modest increase to cover repair and fuel lines and to preserve perpetual Microsoft licensing where cost‑effective. Commissioners asked staff to identify any software subscriptions that could be consolidated; Hoover said he had asked department heads to limit full Adobe suites to single users per office when possible to avoid multiple full subscriptions.

Next steps: commissioners asked staff to confirm whether any non‑recurring maintenance items could be deferred to reduce the 2027 transfer. The department’s presentation and the Spillman completion were entered into the record for budget deliberations.