Council monitors computer costs

CASEY Council may switch to leasing its office computers in a new cost cutting initiative.
Mayor Kevin Bradford has called for council officers to investigate the savings between purchasing and leasing council computers in a bid to reduce hefty costs to ratepayers.
Cr Bradford said that the council owned each of its 500 new computers and replaced outdated machines every three years.
He said the difference between buying and leasing could save the council up to $60,000.
“Computers very quickly become outdated and it is costly to continually replace new machines,” he said at the 20 December council meeting.
“Victoria Police and many other large organisations acquire their computers through a leasing scheme rather than buying them and this can save a huge amount of money.
“I just want to compare whether the cost of purchasing new computers is cheaper than leasing them,” Cr Bradford said.
Cr Bradford said a downside to leasing computers would be that the council could not donate outdated machines to community groups.
“Council either sells its old computers or donates them to local community organisations, which is one benefit of owning.
“But that’s the idea of doing a report, to weigh up the pros and cons. The report will show us whether there is a cheaper way of servicing the council,” he said.
An officers’ report is due to be submitted to the 24 January council meeting.