San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe unveiled a proposal Monday to modernize county communications technology and save taxpayers up to $7 million annually.
The proposal, to be heard at Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, is the first formal action of the board’s Fiscal Subcommittee. It is intended to respond to significant cuts in federal funding.
“As we face looming federal and state funding cuts, saving taxpayer dollars means county government must find innovative ways to do more with less,” said Montgomery Steppe, the board’s vice chair. “By modernizing our communications systems, we’re redirecting millions of dollars each year back into our communities — and accelerating a change that delivers lasting, long-term impact.”
The proposal “builds on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic,” a statement from the supervisors read, when the county quickly adopted mobile and software-based tools to keep the government running as the pandemic disrupted daily life.
During that time, traditional ways the county government was able to communicate both with residents and in intragovernmental ways were maintained along with the new tools to ensure continuity. After several years of data, the supervisors said the new tools may be a more cost-effective way of running the county.