Budget Request FY 2026—27 May 1, 2026

SCFD IT Budget
FY 2026-27

Technology should make the department stronger. Not slower. Not more stressed. The total ask is $147,890.

Companion File

The brief

SCFD already pays for a lot of technology. Our job is to help you get more out of it. And to make sure new tools save your team time, not cost them stress.

This budget covers two things. First, the ItforFire scope you already approved through the Service Agreement. Second, two software subscriptions we need to deliver that scope.

It does not cover hardware. It does not cover anything Portola IT quotes you. Those go through Portola's budget.

For our larger projects — Payroll, Asset Tracking, Tech Consistency, Workflow Modernization, and Website Redesign — we work in stages. We assess. We recommend. We design with input from your team. We don't build until the people who will use the tool agree it solves the right problem.

Total Request — FY 2026-27
$147,890

$128,690 for ItforFire services. $19,200 for software subscriptions. Build work proceeds once stakeholders agree on what to build.

What we're trying to do

Technology should serve the firefighter, not the other way around.

Every dollar in this budget is in service of three things:

Get more from what you have

SCFD already pays for Microsoft 365, DocuSign, and Datto. We start there. Most problems can be solved with tools the department already owns.

Save your team time

The right tool removes friction from the work. The wrong tool adds it. We design with the people who will use the system, not at them.

Make the department stronger

Stronger means faster response. Less paperwork. Less stress at shift change. A department that runs smoothly so its people can focus on the call.

That last point matters. Bad technology has a human cost. A clunky workflow at 2 AM, a system that won't sync, a process nobody trained on — these wear people down. We work to prevent that.

Agree first. Build second.

We don't propose to build a full system for a fixed price up front. That's how IT projects miss the mark on what people actually need.

For each major project, we work in stages. The first three are funded in this budget. The fourth waits for everyone to agree on the design before it begins.

Phase 1
Listen & Learn
Talk to the people who use the current tools. Watch the workflow. Find the friction.
In this budget
Phase 2
Recommend
Compare options. Build vs. buy. What you already own vs. something new. Written recommendation.
In this budget
Phase 3
Design Together
Detailed design, hand-in-hand with the end users. Fixed-fee proposal for the build.
In this budget
Phase 4
Build
Begins when stakeholders and end users agree the design solves the right problem.
Stakeholder-approved
Why we work this way

The end users have to want the tool.

A system nobody asked for is a system nobody uses. We've all seen it — software that sits unused, workflows that get bypassed, expensive tools that gather dust. The cost isn't just the money. It's the trust that erodes when IT promises something and delivers a burden.

So we build with the people who will use the tool. The Finance Manager is the expert on payroll, not us. The shift supervisors know which paperwork wastes time. The folks in the apparatus bay know what works for them. Our job is to listen, recommend, and design — and then make sure everyone agrees before we touch a line of code.

Two exceptions

Mosyle MDM. The Cisco Meraki Systems Manager hits End of Sale on June 3, 2026. We have to migrate. There's nothing to study. We fund the full project.

HIPAA & Cyber Gap Closure. Portola already mapped 24 critical gaps in the IG1 assessment from April 21, 2026. The work is closing them. We fund the full project.

What you get for $128,690

The ten Exhibit A items from the signed Service Agreement. Funding for each:

Exhibit A ItemFY 26-27What's Funded
1. Annual Technology Roadmap$9,000Full year, ongoing
2. Payroll System$12,000Listen, recommend, design
3. Asset Tracking System$11,000Listen, recommend, design
4. Mosyle MDM$16,000Full migration (forced by Cisco EOL)
5. Technology Consistency$6,320Audit and recommend
6. Digital Workflow Modernization$8,500Discover and prioritize
7. Public Website Redesign$10,900Discover and design
8. Custom Solution Reserve$17,400For approved engagements
9. Ongoing IT Advisory$15,250Full year, ongoing
10. HIPAA & Cyber Gap Closure$22,320Full execution (gaps already mapped)
SECTION 1 SUBTOTAL$128,690ItforFire scope

Rates blend $125/hr advisory and $75/hr build/SOP work. Each engagement runs under Service Agreement Exhibit A.

Funded now. Built when we agree.

For each project that runs in stages, here's what gets funded in this budget and what waits for stakeholder approval.

Payroll System
Exhibit A · Item 2

Mariya runs payroll out of a 64-tab Excel workbook. That's a heavy lift every cycle. The right answer might be a custom app. It might be Paychex or ADP. It might be a better Excel system. We figure that out together with Mariya before we recommend anything.

  • In this budget
    Phase 1: Listen & Learn Sit with Mariya. Map how payroll runs today. Find what hurts and what works.
    $3,500
  • In this budget
    Phase 2: Recommend Compare custom build to SaaS options. Five-year cost-benefit. Written recommendation.
    $4,500
  • In this budget
    Phase 3: Design Together Design with Mariya at the table. Project plan. Fixed-fee proposal for the build.
    $4,000
  • Stakeholder-approved
    Phase 4: Build Begins when Mariya and Finance leadership agree the design solves the right problem.
    Set at sign-off
Asset Tracking System
Exhibit A · Item 3

A real inventory of every IT asset across every station. Build vs. buy — custom app vs. Asset Panda, Snipe-IT, or ServiceNow — gets decided with input from the people who manage assets day to day.

  • In this budget
    Phase 1: Walk & Inventory Walk every station. List what exists. Talk to the people who track assets today.
    $3,500
  • In this budget
    Phase 2: Recommend Compare custom build to SaaS options. Plan how it ties into Mosyle and Intune. Written recommendation.
    $4,000
  • In this budget
    Phase 3: Design Together Data model. Detailed design with input from station staff. Fixed-fee proposal for the build.
    $3,500
  • Stakeholder-approved
    Phase 4: Build & Inventory Walk Begins when stakeholders agree the platform fits how the department actually works.
    Set at sign-off
Mosyle MDM Migration
Exhibit A · Item 4

Funded as a full project. Cisco's Meraki Systems Manager hits End of Sale on June 3, 2026. We have to migrate. We start in May 2026 to beat the deadline.

  • In this budget
    Mosyle Implementation Build the Mosyle tenant. Set up profiles, Apple Push Cert, ABM/DEP enrollment, and the app catalog. Migrate the devices. Train your team. Document everything.
    $16,000
Technology Consistency
Exhibit A · Item 5

Every station should run the same hardware, software, and configuration. Today they don't. We audit what's there and recommend a standard build. Rolling that standard out happens once stakeholders sign off on it.

  • In this budget
    Phase 1: Standardization Audit Walk the stations. List what's installed. Find the gaps and the duplicates.
    $3,500
  • In this budget
    Phase 2: Standard Build Plan Recommend the SCFD standard build. Imaging strategy, baseline policies, app standards. Stakeholder review.
    $2,820
  • Stakeholder-approved
    Phase 3: Rollout Apply the standard across stations. Begins when leadership approves the recommended baseline.
    Set at sign-off
Digital Workflow Modernization
Exhibit A · Item 6

Find the paper workflows that waste the most time. Pick the right tool for each one — Power Automate, DocuSign, or custom code. We start with what SCFD already pays for.

  • In this budget
    Phase 1: Discovery & Process Map Talk to the leads. Map the paper workflows. Rank them by impact and effort.
    $5,000
  • In this budget
    Phase 2: Roadmap & Tooling Plan Pick the right tool per workflow. Cost-benefit on each one. Stakeholder approval before any build.
    $3,500
  • Stakeholder-approved
    Phase 3: Build & Deploy Build, test, train, deploy the approved workflows alongside the people who'll use them.
    Set at sign-off
Public Website Redesign
Exhibit A · Item 7

A modern, accessible public website. We do discovery and design first. The build, content migration, and launch happen once you approve the design.

  • In this budget
    Phase 1: Discovery & Information Architecture Stakeholder interviews. Audit the current content. Look at peer fire districts. Design the sitemap.
    $5,500
  • In this budget
    Phase 2: Visual Design & Prototype Visual design. Responsive mockups. Working prototype. Stakeholder review.
    $5,400
  • Stakeholder-approved
    Phase 3: Build & Launch Front-end build. Accessibility. Content migration. CMS training. Launch.
    Set at sign-off

Other engagements

Five Exhibit A items aren't phased. Three run all year. Two are full execution work that doesn't need a planning gate.

EngagementFY 26-27Why no phases
Annual Technology Roadmap $9,000 Continuous engagement. Quarterly refresh.
Custom Solution Reserve $17,400 Reserve for ad-hoc work. Each engagement against it follows the same stage-gate.
Ongoing IT Advisory $15,250 Continuous engagement. Monthly calls. Quarterly reports. Vendor management.
Mosyle MDM Migration $16,000 Forced by Cisco EOL. Execution work, not discovery.
HIPAA & Cyber Gap Closure $22,320 Gaps already mapped in the IG1 report. Execution work, not discovery.
Critical Date

Mosyle starts May 2026

Cisco's Meraki Systems Manager hits End of Sale on June 3, 2026. That's three weeks before the new fiscal year starts. We can't wait for budget approval to begin. We start the work in May to beat the deadline. The funding flows through the FY 26-27 budget once approved.

Twenty-four gaps. A plan for each.

Portola's IG1 assessment from April 21, 2026 put SCFD at 61.2% readiness. That's the High Risk tier for cyber insurance underwriting. Twenty-four controls are flagged P1-High. Ten more are P2-Medium.

The $22,320 line under Exhibit A item 10 funds remediation across four quarters:

Phase 01 · Q1

Identity & Access

Jul–Sep 2026 · 6 gaps

MFA on every system that should have it. Disable dormant accounts. Separate admin from daily-use accounts. Highest insurance impact, lowest cost.

Phase 02 · Q2

Logging, Data, Encryption

Oct–Dec 2026 · 9 gaps

Audit logs. Data inventory. Secure disposal. End-user device encryption. Foundation for HIPAA Risk Analysis.

Phase 03 · Q3

Incident Response & Vendors

Jan–Mar 2027 · 6 gaps

Documented incident handling. Network segmentation with Portola. Service provider inventory.

Phase 04 · Q4

Vulnerability & Patch Mgmt

Apr–Jun 2027 · 3 gaps

Operational cadence. By the end we've closed 21 of 24. The rest are in active management. Insurance position improves.

This work is execution, not planning. The gaps are already mapped. We just need to close them in the right order with the right owner per gap.

Two software lines, $19,200

Two subscriptions we need to deliver the Section 1 scope. The implementation hours sit in Section 1. These are licensing costs only.

ItemFY 26-27Why
Mosyle Business — Annual MDM $6,000 Apple device management. Replaces Meraki Systems Manager.
Bitwarden Enterprise $13,200 220 users at $6/user/month. Required for cyber insurance compliance. Replaces shared spreadsheets and browser passwords.
SECTION 2 SUBTOTAL$19,200Above-baseline software

The number

SectionSubtotalWhat it covers
Section 1 — ItforFire Scope $128,690 Per Service Agreement Exhibit A. Listening, recommending, designing for multi-stage projects. Full execution for forced and pre-scoped work.
Section 2 — Software $19,200 Mosyle plus Bitwarden. Above the 2026-27 baseline.
TOTAL$147,890ItforFire-driven items only

What's not in this number

"A system nobody asked for is a system nobody uses."

Every figure, traceable

Pricing was checked in April 2026.

SCFD Documents
Service Agreement (signed)
Agreement for Services — IT as a Service. Source of Exhibit A scope, rates, insurance requirements.
Business Associate Agreement (signed)
BAA between SCFD and IT as a Service. Source of HIPAA Risk Analysis scope.
SCFD_2026_IG1_action.pdf
Portola Cyber Insurance Readiness Assessment. Source of the 24 critical gaps and the 61.2% score.
HIPAA Risk Analysis Tool
SCFD risk analysis methodology. Reference for our risk analysis project.
Budget Request Form
SCFD-issued template for above-baseline budget requests. Three columns: Item, Justification, Amount. Due May 1, 2026.
Vendor & Reference Sources
Cisco Meraki SM End of Sale
Cisco Meraki Documentation FAQ. EOS June 3, 2026. EOL June 3, 2029.
documentation.meraki.com →
Mosyle Business MDM
Apple-focused MDM vendor. Annual subscription priced for SCFD's device count.
mosyle.com →
Bitwarden Enterprise
Published pricing. Enterprise tier $6/user/month, billed annually. 220 users = $13,200/year.
bitwarden.com/pricing →
Reference: payroll SaaS options
Paychex, ADP Run, Paycom, UKG Ready. For build-vs-buy comparison in Phase 2 of the Payroll project.
paychex.com →
Reference: asset tracking SaaS options
Asset Panda, Snipe-IT, ServiceNow Asset Management. For build-vs-buy comparison in Phase 2 of the Asset Tracking project.
assetpanda.com →
Methodology

Hour estimates. Based on professional judgment and similar engagements. Each project gets a fixed-fee or T&M proposal in writing before work starts. That's per Exhibit A.

Rates. Mix of $125/hr advisory (Sukh Singh) and $75/hr build/SOP work. Weighted toward advisory for planning phases.

Stage-gate. For projects where the solution is undecided — Payroll, Asset Tracking, Tech Consistency, Workflow Modernization, Website Redesign — we fund listening, recommendation, and design. Build work proceeds once stakeholders and end users agree on what to build.

Exceptions. Mosyle MDM and HIPAA Cyber Gap Closure are funded as full projects. Mosyle is forced by a vendor EOL. The cyber gaps are already mapped in the IG1 report.

Above-baseline scope. Per the SCFD form, only above-baseline items are listed. Baseline software like M365 GCC, Active 911, KnowBe4, and Datto is not duplicated here.

Currency and date. All figures USD. Pricing checked April 2026.