Councilors raised information-technology costs during the budget review, asking why Microsoft licensing jumped to about $98,000 and whether the city’s meeting streaming vendor fee could be replaced by a no-cost YouTube embed.

Why it matters: IT licensing and meeting-broadcast costs are recurring line items that can be scaled or renegotiated; savings could be redirected to services or staff priorities.

Details: IT staff said the Microsoft 365 expense reflects about 140 licenses across city accounts, including front-desk machines, police vehicle computers and community-center workstations, and that the state-bid contract sets pricing. The information-technology director said Microsoft 365 also enables collaboration features and phone integration that are needed for tracking calls and improving customer service.

On webcast streaming, council members pointed out many municipalities host meeting video on YouTube and embed the content on city websites at no streaming-host cost. Council asked staff to examine vendor alternatives and to report back with options for reducing the $5,500 streaming fee and to confirm the exact count and necessity of Microsoft licenses.