Grand Traverse Couty commissioners will consider making a significant investment in technology upgrades at their meeting today (Wednesday) – including migrating more departments to cloud-based systems and taking the next major step toward incorporating artificial intelligence into county operations. Commissioners will also vote to approve a request-for-proposals process for planning a new justice center and hear from County Treasurer Jamie Callahan.

Technology Upgrades
Commissioners will consider migrating more of the county’s departments to cloud-based technology – changes that are expected to improve security and provide regular software upgrades, though come at a significantly higher price tag.

Grand Traverse County and provider Tyler Technologies are working to migrate county technology from on-premises systems – which means the software runs on the county’s own hardware infrastructure and is hosted on-site – to the cloud, where it’s stored off-site on the provider’s servers and accessed through the Internet. The county’s public safety software – its computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system used by 911/Central Dispatch and emergency responders – was migrated to the cloud last year in the wake of a ransomware attack. The District Court Joint Information Services (JIS) system has also been migrated to the cloud.

The cloud-based approach allows for immediate security updates and services patches, plus access to the latest version of the software, according to a memo from IT Director Cliff DuPuy. It also provides “geographic redundancy” – a term that refers to distributing data across multiple locations so that if one location is compromised, such as during a disaster or cyber-attack, the county still has access to its data elsewhere.

Commissioners today will consider a proposal to upgrade the county’s Enterprise Permitting and Licensing (EPL) system – which is used by Construction Codes, Environmental Health, and Equalization/GIS – to a cloud-based model. The expected cost is $274,603 for the first year, with an annual recurring cost of $256,003. Annual increases ranging from two to five percent are expected under the agreement. By comparison, the existing subscription cost for EPL is just over $82,000. More county departments are expected to follow in 2026: BS&A, one of the county’s main software systems, and the Circuit Court JIS will both migrate to the cloud next year. County Administrator Nate Alger notes that even vendors themselves are getting away from on-premises support. A cloud-based model is “a best practice and more secure,” Alger says.

Commissioners today will also consider approving nearly $400,000 in subscription renewal costs for Microsoft 365 products – an expenditure that’s notable for including 100 new Microsoft Copilot licenses. Copilot is Microsoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, a tool DuPuy says will allow the county to begin leveraging “AI-powered productivity capabilities across the organization.” The licenses represent a $36,000 increase over last year’s cost. DuPuy says deploying Copilot will happen in tandem with providing AI training to employees and implementing the county’s new “Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence,” a reference to a potential future AI department.

The county already started using AI this year in the Grand Traverse County 911/Central Dispatch center to help handle non-emergency calls. Alger says the new licenses would allow a handful of employees in each of the county’s nearly 30 offices to become trained on AI and use Copilot, providing feedback on its usefulness for department operations. He notes that training will cover best practices for using AI ethically and verifying accuracy in its output. An updated county policy on AI use is expected to come to commissioners for review at a future meeting, according to Alger.

Facilities RFP
Commissioners today will approve a request-for-proposals (RFP) process to find a consultant to lead a planning process for a new justice center – a centralized complex envisioned to host a new jail and multiple law enforcement agencies.

The consultant is expected to help the county evaluate its building needs across the Boardman and LaFranier campuses and the Law Enforcement Center on Woodmere Avenue to determine how to best to accommodate the justice center and other county departments across those sites. Options could include a “comprehensive renovation of the Governmental Center, or the construction of a new facility/facilities at either the Boardman or LaFranier campuses or alternative locations,” according to a memo from Deputy Administrator Chris Forsyth.

The RFP outlines three potential phases of services. The consultant would first provide pre-design services, including a feasibility analysis of building options and a preliminary budget and project timeline. A second phase of design services calls for the consultant to work with architectural and engineering teams to coordinate design work, ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal approvals. An optional third phase – subject to future commission approval – would cover construction oversight services if the county proceeds with a building project.

Commissioners last week reviewed debt scenarios for tackling the construction of the new justice center, along with other major building projects on the horizon. Financial advisors said the various scenarios all showed a “manageable” debt burden for the county when spread across the coming decades.

Treasurer Presentation
County Treasurer Jamie Callahan is expected to appear before commissioners today after the board voted at their September 3 meeting to request his presence to discuss the county’s most recent audit. While the audit was clean, it was filed late with the state – which staff attributed to delays that came in part from the treasurer’s office – and flagged areas of needed improvement. Bank reconciliations “were not completed timely or accurately” and should be done within 30 days going forward, stated the audit, which also said the treasurer should provide regular reports to commissioners on the status of the county’s investments. Callahan provided a brief chart in the board’s meeting packet outlining the county’s monthly interest income for 2025 through August. He is expected to answer any questions on the interest report and audit from commissioners today.