Montgomery County Tech Department Reports Sharp Workload Growth Since 2020

Montgomery County Board Coordinating Committee Meeting | May 28, 2026

Article Summary: Information Services Director Curt Watkins told the Montgomery County Board Coordinating Committee on May 28 that his department’s workload has grown steeply across nearly every measure since 2020, and the committee referred his recommendations — including adding a qualified tech professional — to the Finance & Budget Committee.

Information Services Growth Report Key Points:

• The Information Services department now leads 61.3% of county grant projects, according to Watkins’ report.
• Remote users are up 300% since 2020; VLANs are up 228.6%; wireless access is up 113.3%; video monitoring stations are up 160%.
• The department also manages new multimedia technology in each courtroom and the County Board Room, plus key fob door security.
• The report’s recommendations, including adding a qualified tech professional, were referred to the Finance & Budget Committee rather than acted on.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Information Services Director Curt Watkins presented the Montgomery County Board Coordinating Committee on Thursday, May 28, 2026, with a growth report documenting how far his department’s responsibilities have expanded since 2020, and the committee sent his recommendations — among them the addition of a qualified tech professional — to the Finance & Budget Committee for further consideration.

The committee met at 8:30 a.m. in the County Board Room on the second floor of the Historic Courthouse, #1 Courthouse Square, Hillsboro. Board Chairman Doug Donaldson led the Pledge of Allegiance. All six committee members were present: Donaldson, Mark Hughes, Ethan Murzynski, Connie Beck, Chad Ruppert and Dr. Patty Whitworth. No members were absent, and no one spoke during public comments.

Watkins’ Montgomery County Information Services Growth Report described workload changes measured against 2020. The single largest share figure in the report is the department’s role in county grant work: Information Services leads 61.3% of grant projects.

The Numbers Behind the Report

The growth figures span most of the department’s portfolio. Security cameras are up 58.6% and video monitoring stations are up 160%. Wireless access is up 113.3%. Remote users are up 300%. VLANs — virtual local area networks, the segmented internal networks that separate traffic within a larger system — are up 228.6%. Servers and PCs are up 20%.

Beyond those percentages, the report noted categories of work that did not exist in the same form six years ago. The department manages new multimedia technology installed in each courtroom and in the County Board Room, as well as key fob door security for county facilities.

The report’s recommendations, which include adding a qualified tech professional to the department, were referred to the Finance & Budget Committee. No vote was taken on the report itself, and no motion was made on the staffing recommendation at the Coordinating Committee level.

What Referral Means

The Coordinating Committee is chaired by the board chairman and composed of the chairs of the county’s standing committees. Like the county’s other committees, it makes recommendations; it does not enact them. Any decision on adding a position — and any dollars attached to it — would fall to the Finance & Budget Committee and ultimately to the full Montgomery County Board.

The minutes of the May 28 meeting do not record a cost estimate, salary range or funding source for the recommended tech professional, nor do they attach a dollar figure to any of the growth categories in Watkins’ report. They also do not record discussion or questions from committee members on the report.

Watkins was one of several county officials attending the meeting. Also present were County Board Administration’s Mike Plunkett and Lucas Nowlan, County Engineer Cody Greenwood, County Clerk Sandy Leitheiser, EMA/EPA/911 Director Dan Hough, Treasurer Nikki Lohman and Circuit Clerk Daniel Robbins.

The committee adjourned at 9:53 a.m. on a motion by Whitworth, seconded by Murzynski, which carried unanimously.