The county budgeted $280,000 this year in capital expenses which includes upgrading the county's 201 computers.
"It's planned obsolescence is what it is," Tim Kelley, the county's information technology director, told commissioners at their meeting Wednesday.
What's forcing the change is computer company Microsoft is ending its technical support of the Windows 7 operating system as of Jan. 1, 2020.
That means the county's computers need to be upgraded, but only 56 of them can accommodate an upgrade to either Windows 8 or 10 operating systems, so 145 need to be replaced, Kelley said.
Commissioners on Wednesday approved the overall plan which will cost more than $180,000 for computer hardware and required Microsoft operating licenses for that equipment.
Replacing the 145 computers will cost $125,865 based on 94 personal computers at $810 each for $76,140 plus 51 laptop computers at $975 each for $49,725. Replacing all 201 Microsoft Office computer software licenses will cost another $62,738.13, Kelley said.
Commissioners also gave Kelley approval for the initial purchases related to the computer upgrade.
Commissioners approved the purchase of the first 41 of the 94 personal computers at $33,210 and 16 of the 51 laptops at $15,600 with those computers to be purchased from Dell under the state COSTARS purchasing contract.
Commissioners approved the purchase of the first 40 of the 201 Microsoft Office licenses at $12,485.20 from CDWG under the state COSTARS purchasing contract.
Kelley said he would purchase the equipment over several different cycles throughout the year.
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