San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe unveiled a proposal Monday to modernize county communications technology and save taxpayers up to $7 million annually.
The proposal, to be heard at Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, is the first formal action of the board’s Fiscal Subcommittee. It is intended to respond to significant cuts in federal funding.
“As we face looming federal and state funding cuts, saving taxpayer dollars means county government must find innovative ways to do more with less,” said Montgomery Steppe, the board’s vice chair. “By modernizing our communications systems, we’re redirecting millions of dollars each year back into our communities — and accelerating a change that delivers lasting, long-term impact.”
The proposal “builds on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic,” a statement from the supervisors read, when the county quickly adopted mobile and software-based tools to keep the government running as the pandemic disrupted daily life.
During that time, traditional ways the county government was able to communicate both with residents and in intragovernmental ways were maintained along with the new tools to ensure continuity. After several years of data, the supervisors said the new tools may be a more cost-effective way of running the county.
“As Washington cuts healthcare and food assistance, counties don’t have the luxury of inaction,” said Lawson-Remer, the board chair. “We’re unlocking savings, modernizing how government works, forging new partnerships, and protecting services for San Diegans.”
The largest item the supervisors propose changing is San Diego County’s “legacy phone platform,” with fixed annual expenses no matter how frequently it is used. They said completing a transition to software-based tools for communications could allow the county to retire the older system and save those costs.
“County staff estimate the proposal could generate up to $7 million in ongoing annual savings, building on savings already achieved through mobile-only configurations and device optimization,” a statement from Montgomery Steppe and Lawson-Remer’s offices read. “The proposal maintains public access to county services and operational reliability, with clear exception processes where legacy systems remain necessary.”
In the proposal, county staff would be limited to just one phone line, land-lines and physical phones would be replaced with “soft phones” using software, unused devices would be returned and physical fax machines would be phased out.
The board has docketed the proposal for a vote at its Wednesday meeting.
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