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Saratoga County technology committee starting slowly, and from behind
BALLSTON SPA, Feb 10, 2012 (The Post-Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Saratoga County's technology committee kicked off its first meeting of 2012 by voting to replace 35 outdated computers, the oldest dating back to 1999.
The cost of replacing them -- almost $20,000 -- represents nearly half of the funds available to the committee in 2012. Replacing 35 computers every year would mean each of the county's 774 computers has an average life of 22 years.
"This rate won't work," Edinburg Supervisor Jean Raymond said.
Yet, in some ways, the new computers mark a success for the committee, which has worked with a limited budget since it was formed last year to bring the county's often-antiquated technology in line with the times.
Saratoga Springs Supervisor Matthew Veitch, the committee's chairman, said he doesn't know how many computers were replaced in past years because no formal process existed for replacing them. It wasn't until the committee took inventory last year that the county had an exact count of computers it owned.
"Why were we never doing that? They're like trucks in DPW," Veitch said.
He outlined some of his goals for the committee's second year. Among them is a revamping of the county website, www.saratogacountyny.gov, which he said has hardly changed since it went online in 2007. The chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Saratoga Supervisor Tom Wood, said last month he'd like to see changes to the website.
The committee's members also discussed ways to make meeting agendas and documents more accessible to the public.
Veitch said he plans to continue a push for a new timekeeping system. Most employees currently punch time cards that must be reviewed by superiors before being passed on to the personnel department and the county administrator. Officials have estimated the process takes dozens of employees as much as 350 total hours each week.
A proposal to buy a new system for $100,000 or more was nixed by supervisors in September.
Veitch also said he'd like to see technology spending, currently drawn from various budget lines across departments, grouped together.
"When you look at the budget, you really don't know how much we spend on technology. It's hard for us to get a handle on how much we spend," he said.
He said more employees have come to see technology as a priority. But, in some ways, the county's approach remains as old as its time-keeping system.
Veitch said the county will spend about $2,500 this year on desk calendars for employees, even though its e-mail system, updated last year, has its own calendar.
The calendars can be shared with other employees, and reminders can be sent by text message, Veitch said.
"We're paying for that," he said.
Several supervisors said cutting reliance on paper should be a priority. Raymond suggested that next year's budget cut each department's budget for paper in half.
___ (c)2012 The Post Star (Glens Falls, N.Y.) Visit The Post Star (Glens Falls,
N.Y.) at www.poststar.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
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