Politics & Government

Updated: Chicago Heights Expects to Save Thousands With IT Agreement

The city will now have an IT specialist on staff 40 hours per week.

Originally published Jan. 20, this article was updated Jan. 25 with information about the owners of ISI and a statement from the company's Chief Operating Officer.

Chicago Heights will be paying $10,000 per month for IT services for the next two years, thanks to an amended agreement approved at the .

The council voted unanimously to approve Mayor David Gonzalez's recommended change in the way the city government's technology maintenance is handled, entering into a two-year contract with a company called Intelligent Solutions Inc.

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ISI is privately owned by Richard Fugett and Michael Koziol and was started in 1990, with its headquarters located in Mokena. ISI's Chief Operating Officer Reed Konnerth said the type of work the company will do for the Heights is its specialty.

"For over 20 years we have been specializing in governmental and municipal IT support in the southern Chicagoland area," Konnerth said in an email. "Chicago Heights is one of our premier clients and we are extremely excited to work with the City to help them save significant money in their IT expenses."

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Previously, the city used the company's services on an as-needed basis, racking up an average cost of $175,000 to $195,000 each year, Gonzalez said.

"It's $120,000 per year we'll be paying now," the mayor said, adding that he expects the city to save as much as $75,000.

The amended agreement puts an employee of ISI on staff 40 hours per week for the City of Chicago Heights with an additional 20 hours per month in on-call services.

At the meeting, Chief of Staff Lisa Aprati compared what the city was getting from the company previously to what the amended agreement means.

"It was considered a lower technician that would respond to our needs," Aprati said. "Now, it would be a top-level technician that would be on staff."

The amended agreement will go into effect Feb. 1.

Correction: This article originally said the IT company was called Internet Technology Services Inc. The information has been corrected.


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