Why fund Wi-Fi?

• Author: Bunton, Anne Poag

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Note: The City of Rock Hill, South Carolina, received an honorable mention in the GFOA's 2010 Awards for Excellence in Government Finance for its municipal Wi-Fi program.

For years, the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina, watched other organizations install automated meter reading stems to control meter reading costs, improve billing accuracy, and reduce employee injuries. City officials saw the benefits and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. The city could easily justify the project, but the staff wanted more. As a result, a much more expansive vision was developed, a plan that would provide for a city-owned communications system that moved beyond the customary automated meter reading approach to an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system. This system produced many innovations in the way city services are provided.

Staff proposed first installing a municipally owned wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) infrastructure, which would become the communication system for an AMI system. Rock Hill's system was unique because the long-term financial strategy assumed a communication system that would be used only by government employees. The primary financial considerations in developing and implementing the Wi-Fi project were budgetary analysis, revenue forecasts, expenditure reductions, and projected debt capacity. While other municipalities developed Wi-Fi as fiscally dependant on advertisements and Internet user fees, Rock Hill produced a financial strategy that made citywide Wi-Fi a realistic goal.

FRAMING THE PROJECT

To begin the process, the city held brain storming sessions involving multiple departments, asking employees, "If you had access to City Hall computers through the Internet from anywhere across the city, how would it change they way you do your job?" Staff got excited about the project and developed lists of possible applications.

Numerous customer service efficiencies were identified, but none of them was likely to be offset by a reduction in personnel expenditures. It was also difficult to quantify items such as reduced response times, delaying the need for personnel additions, etc. Automated meter reading, however, was clearly an area where the city could eliminate positions, trucks, fuel, insurance, etc., and easily quantify those cost savings. The AMI system was critical in realizing the financial savings needed to fund the estimated $3.5 million Wi-Fi infrastructure investment.

Since drive-by...