Nearly two years later, I have again approached the Geneva County Commission regarding its IT spending.
The latest proposal presents an opportunity to save taxpayers approximately $65,000 over the next 36 months, while also increasing the services being provided.
Among those services would be a dedicated technician onsite for eight hours every week, backed by our regular full-time employees.
Once again, I’m not asking the Commission to simply award the business to my company.
I’m asking them to test the market.
The 2024 proposal showed that substantial savings were possible.
The current proposal shows that substantial savings may still be possible.
At some point, the question becomes less about which IT company should receive the work and more about why the Commission won’t determine through competition what the work should actually cost.
Taxpayers Deserve Competitive Pricing
Geneva County government has many legitimate expenses.
Public safety costs money.
Roads cost money.
Employees cost money.
Equipment costs money.
Technology costs money.
That’s precisely why opportunities to reduce recurring expenses deserve serious consideration.
Every dollar unnecessarily spent in one area is a dollar unavailable somewhere else—or another dollar that eventually has to come from taxpayers.
Before asking taxpayers to provide more revenue, elected officials should be able to demonstrate that they’re making reasonable efforts to obtain the best value from the money they already receive.
Competitive bidding is one of the simplest ways to do that.
$36,000 Later, the Question Remains
Looking back at the 2024 proposal isn’t about claiming that every dollar of the estimated savings was guaranteed.
Circumstances change. Technology requirements change. County needs change.
But the proposal established something important:
A qualified local provider was willing to perform the work for substantially less than Geneva County was spending.
That should have triggered a comparison.
Instead, approximately two years have passed.
The potential savings have reached roughly $36,000.
And now another proposal suggests approximately $65,000 in additional savings could be available over the next three years.
Geneva County doesn’t have to choose my company.
It doesn’t have to choose Foxhill.
It should choose the best value for taxpayers.
But we’ll never know what the best value is if nobody is allowed to compete.
The Commission had an opportunity to test the market in 2024.
Approximately $36,000 in potential savings later, taxpayers are still waiting for it to happen.