Local government IT
IT for town hall, the clerk and the board.
A small town or public board carries duties a private office does not: records that belong to the public, services that cannot stop, and a website everyone must be able to use. This page is a plain overview for clerks, mayors and board members.
Sample data · “Your Business”
Quick answer
What IT responsibilities does a small town or public board have?
Beyond keeping computers working, a public body has to keep services running through an outage, preserve public records including email for as long as its retention schedule requires, guard public money against payment fraud, and offer a website people with disabilities can use. Systems that touch law enforcement data carry additional rules.
What is different about public work
Five duties a private office does not have.
- 01
Continuity of services
Water billing, court dates, permits and payroll have to keep going through a failed server or a ransomware attack. Write down which services matter most, how long each can be down and how it would run by hand in the meantime.
- 02
Public records, including email
The Alabama Department of Archives and History says email is subject to the open records law and that its retention depends on what a message contains, not where the account lives. Local officials need approval through the Local Government Records Commission’s schedules before destroying records. Town business on a personal email account is a records problem waiting to happen.
- 03
Police systems
Systems that reach criminal justice information fall under the FBI’s CJIS Security Policy, which sets rules for the agency and for any vendor with access. Keep those systems on their own network and check with your agency’s CJIS contact before any vendor touches them.
- 04
Public money
Towns are targets for fake invoices and emailed requests to change a vendor’s bank account or an employee’s direct deposit. Public meeting minutes and budgets tell a criminal exactly whom to imitate.
- 05
Website accessibility
The Department of Justice’s rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for state and local government web content and mobile apps, including content a vendor posts for you. It has exceptions and compliance dates tied to population. Ask your attorney which apply.
Handling it
A checklist a clerk can start on.
None of this requires a large budget. It requires someone to own each line.
Accounts and email
- Official email accounts for every official and employee
- Multi-factor sign-in on all of them
- Accounts closed when a term or a job ends
- No shared passwords at the front counter
Records
- Find the records schedule that covers your kind of body
- Store records where they are backed up, not on one desktop
- Keep email according to its content
- Record what was destroyed, when and under what authority
Money
- Verify any bank-detail change by calling a known number
- Two people approve payments above a set amount
- Train staff to spot fake invoices and urgent requests
- Review who can send payments from the bank portal
Continuity
- Backups with one copy off site and one a virus cannot reach
- A restore tested on a schedule
- A printed contact list and a manual fallback for each service
- A battery backup on the equipment that matters
The website
- Text alternatives for images
- Agendas and forms posted as readable documents, not scans
- Headings, contrast and keyboard access checked
- A named person to receive accessibility requests
Budgeting on a fiscal year
No surprises in month nine.
- 01
A flat monthly figure
Managed IT is priced per user, per month, so the annual figure is known before the budget is adopted. There is no hourly billing to overrun a line item.
- 02
Plan replacements
List every computer, server and network device with its age. Replace on a rotation so no single year carries the whole cost.
- 03
Separate projects from operations
Recurring support belongs in the operating budget. One-time work, such as a new server or a website rebuild, is quoted in writing so it can be approved on its own.
- 04
Ask about procurement early
Purchasing and bid requirements vary by body and by amount. Ask your attorney before committing, and tell us what paperwork you need.
What it costs
One plan, in writing.
Managed IT for a town, department or board is $175 per user, per month with a 5-user minimum.
The same single plan every client gets. Microsoft 365 licenses billed separately at Microsoft’s price.
- Unlimited remote help desk (phone & email)
- 24/7 monitoring and alerting
- Patch management
- Microsoft 365 administration and support
- Multi-factor sign-in setup
- Backup monitoring and management
- Advanced security monitoring
- Network & firewall management
- Security awareness training
- Onboarding and same-day offboarding
- Quarterly on-site visits
- Vendor management
Assessments and documentation are quoted in writing before work starts.
- IT and security assessment with plain-English findings
- Written continuity and incident response plans
- vCIO strategy sessions and multi-year IT budgets
- Standard website $2,495 or Pro website $3,995, one time
- Website Care $149 a month
This page is general information, not legal advice. We put security controls in place and document them; we do not certify anyone or make an organization compliant. Ask your attorney, the Alabama Department of Archives and History or the relevant agency what applies to you.
Questions
Local government IT questions, plainly answered.
Do you work with very small towns and boards?
Yes. Managed IT has a 5-user minimum. If you have fewer people, contact us and we will talk through what fits. Websites have no minimum.
Is a council member’s email a public record?
The Alabama Department of Archives and History says government email is subject to the open records law and is retained according to its content. Give officials an official account and ask your attorney about specific messages.
Does our town website have to be accessible?
The Department of Justice’s Title II rule sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the standard for state and local government websites and mobile apps, with exceptions and compliance dates that depend on the size of the government. Ask your attorney what applies, and get the standard in writing from any web vendor.
Can you support our police department’s computers?
We support general office IT. Systems that reach criminal justice information are governed by the FBI’s CJIS Security Policy, so any work on them has to be cleared through the agency’s CJIS contact first. We will tell you plainly what we can and cannot touch.
How do we stop payment fraud?
Verify every change to bank details by calling a number you already had on file, require two approvals for larger payments, turn on multi-factor sign-in for email and train staff. Most of these cost nothing.
How much does IT cost for a town?
$175 per user, per month with a 5-user minimum, covering the help desk, 24/7 monitoring, security, Microsoft 365 administration, backups and quarterly on-site visits. Licenses are billed separately at Microsoft’s price.
Does working with you make us compliant?
No provider can promise that. We put safeguards in place, document them and tell you plainly what is still open. Your attorney and the relevant agencies decide what the law requires.
Contact
Request an IT assessment.
A hands-on review of your computers, network, security and backups, quoted up front, with findings in plain English.