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0 <br /> Memorandum <br /> Orange County Board of County Commissioners <br /> C/o Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners <br /> P.O. Box 8181 <br /> Hillsborough,NC 27278 <br /> January 28,2009 <br /> Dear Commissioners, <br /> The Information Technologies Advisory Committee has been well apprised of the current fiscal <br /> constraints of the County. We understand the County has to balance myriad priorities in putting <br /> together next year's budget, and that in order to hold the line on tax increases,any increased <br /> expenditures in one area will necessitate cuts in other areas. <br /> The Information Technologies Advisory Committee strongly recommends the continued funding of <br /> the replacement of the County's land records&taxation system(the project known as the Property <br /> Information Management System,PIMS). The current system has been in place for three decades. <br /> While it has served the County well in this time,there are several reasons it is not practical to <br /> continue using it through the next assessment cycle: <br /> • Waiting for the current system to fail to commence its replacement will produce major <br /> disruptions in the operations of many departments.A rushed implementation will still take a <br /> year to complete and will undoubtedly be more costly to implement under such <br /> circumstances. <br /> • Especially during time of fiscal duress,the County can ill afford disruptions in its primary <br /> revenue stream. Should the current system fail, even partially,the inevitable result would be <br /> a decrease in collections efficiency,which could imperil the finances of all County <br /> initiatives. <br /> • The County's ability to support this technology cannot reasonably, or affordably be extended <br /> beyond when the IT department's mainframe specialist retires. There are no practical staff <br /> development options to address these particular skill sets of the retiring member of the IT <br /> workforce. <br /> The Revenue Office will articulate the potential financial consequences of the current system failing. <br /> The Information Technologies Advisory Committee supports the Chief Information Officer's <br /> conclusion that the current system cannot be sustained beyond the current assessment cycle. <br /> While the County has many difficult budgetary decisions to make,your careful considerations of the <br /> risks of postponing the replacement of an aging revenue system is critical to ensuring steady <br /> revenues for all County priorities. <br /> Res ectfully submitt d, j <br /> L <br /> Frederick"Stoney"Brown <br /> Chair, Orange County Information Technology Advisory Committee <br />