The county Board of Supervisors held its first week of department budget presentations starting Feb. 12, covering most of the departments and including several IT funding requests. Joseph Nicchitta, acting CEO, set the stage with a warning: resources are scarce, and departments shouldn’t expect to receive funding for an item simply because they did last year.
“Departments are coming in knowing resources are limited,” he said during the first meeting.
The county’s budget woes stem from a series of converging circumstances, including devastating wildfires, reduced federal funding, tenuous state funding and a $4 billion legal settlement the county entered into last year.
The board has heard budget presentations from 32 departments, leaving seven to give their presentations at the next meeting on Feb. 27, including the Chief Executive Office under which sits the CIO.
Industry Insider — California combed through the department presentations for IT opportunities, which are listed below.
The following listed funding requests for IT projects:
- The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk is requesting $48 million for ongoing and mandated version updates to Voting Solutions for All People. It’s also requesting $20.6 million for “(Election Management System) contract/project management/GIS.”
- The Sheriff’s Department is requesting $22 million for computer-aided dispatch and staffing as it embarks on a full CAD replacement. The department also listed as priorities building a “real-time crime watch center” and “[modernizing] department technology.”
- The Justice, Care and Opportunities Department is requesting $8 million for “auditing, compliance and contract monitoring, fiscal, community capacity building and IT.”
- The District Attorney’s Office is requesting $7.1 million for technology and case management.
- The Internal Services Department is requesting $1.5 million for “LA-RICS migration and data center equipment.” The department also noted that it hopes to “[leverage] technology and training” to address increasing program costs and challenges with hiring and retention.
- The Department of Child Support Services is requesting $745,000 for eFiling software.
- The Department of Animal Care and Control is requesting $100,000 for “IT projects.”
- The Department of Children and Family Services is “working with [the] state to finalize the data system to ensure access to federal funding and other prevention related needs” with regard to the Family First Prevention Services Act.
- The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is developing a “veteran-centered data management system.”
- The Department of Regional Planning listed as its No. 3 priority “EPIC-LA migration to SaaS” and “data tracking enhancements” for case processing.
- The Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures is aiming to “[continue] digitization of operational data capture and management” to address operational inefficiencies.
- The Department of Probation is planning to “automate scheduling and call-out processes to capture staff availability and provide accountability” in response to increased overtime costs.
- The Department of Medical Examiner is aiming to “[leverage a] case management system” to address facility capacity issues.
