BUD GETING FOR TECHNOLOGY MELISSA REEDER AND LISA SOVA R epri nted w i th permi ssi on from Mi nnesota C i ti es m agazine, Jul -A ug 2021 i ssue, © 2021 League of Mi nneso t a Cit ies.
Reliable technology is crucial for cities to conduct business and provide excellent service to residents. Budgeting for technology is a unique task that plays a key role in ensuring your city has the funds to maintain current equipment, replace outdated technology, and plan for future initiatives.
All this reliance on technology is making cities more efficient, but it also requires regular maintenance and planned improvements. Your city needs to make sure to budget for technology maintenance every year and plan for future upgrades. This brings us to an important fact: Computers don’t rust.
CREATING VALUE
In many ways, the pandemic put technology in the spotlight. The world went virtual, and we all had to turn to tools like Zoom, cell phones, and email to keep the city moving. Many city employees began telecommuting, and cities had to invest in new technology to allow for that. This is one way many cities spent the Coronavirus Relief Funds they received from the federal government.
Technology — love it or hate it, but the fact is your city can’t survive without it.
Even before the pandemic, though, technology had begun creating more value for cities in recent years. Many cities are using technology to do things like control their water treatment plants, allow residents to make online payments to the city, or even receive reports of new potholes via a smartphone app.
Your city has a finite number of dollars, and funding for technology may seem easy to delay. After all, computers rarely show outward signs of age. They do not rust like playground equipment or crumble like streets. The need for computer maintenance is often invisible until there is a failure, but technology carries a great liability when not properly maintained.
KEY COMPONENTS OF AN IT BUDGET
There are three key areas to think about when budgeting for technology: •
Your city staff, and how they use technology and their space.
•
The equipment and software your city needs.
•
Technology support.
STAFF, SPACE, AND PROJECTS
When building your budget, think about the way people work. More and more employees are working remotely, and if that’s true at your city, then you’ll want to buy a laptop instead of a desktop computer for some positions.
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