Imagine for a moment that you’re the mayor of a Midwestern city:

You’re committed to doing the best you can for your constituents… but you are also constrained by a tight budget, so every dollar counts.

You want to bring your city into the mainstream with “smart” technology as much as you can… but how do you prioritize for the maximum return on investment?

At Future Link IT, we work with clients in this exact position every year, so we understand the challenges unique to municipal budget planning.

Here are three recommended best practices:

  1. Ensure that your IT budget is designed to hit your municipal planning objectives.

In most cases, it makes sense to decide on your most critical objectives for the year first, and then walk those back to where your money will go. For example, if law enforcement is a key priority this year, it may make sense to invest in rugged tech designed to work hard in the field. Or if many of your employees still run Windows ’98, it may be time for an upgrade. (!)

  1. Review last year’s budget to see what worked well, and what didn’t.

Where did most of your technological problems occur? Was your internet consistently slow? Or did firewall maintenance become a full-time job, like it did for this city? Was there a successful pilot program that you’re now ready to institute city-wide?

  1. Cut your costs where you can – but don’t neglect the ounce of prevention now.

For example, preventive maintenance and cost batching will save you more money than waiting for the inevitable breakdown of your equipment, with costly last-minute replacements. By putting machines on a maintenance schedule, they are replaced and upgraded in batches. Installation and labor is consolidated to reduce overall spend. This may be even more important in municipal budgets than in the private sector.

At Future Link IT, our priority is customer service, and doing what works best for your technology and your budget. We’re happy to help you plan your municipal budget to help reduce IT expenses—we’ve helped other clients cut costs by more than 35%! Call us today to learn how we can do the same for you.