11/13/2025
Sunbury City reviews phone-system quotes and braces for potential $162,000 hit if vendor reclaims equipment
November 11, 2025 | Sunbury City, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
Sunbury City officials spent the budget meeting on Tuesday reviewing vendor quotes to replace the city’s phone system, clarifying pricing language, and assessing the financial impact if the incumbent IT provider reclaims hardware.
Nate, a representative of the vendor InnoTech who joined the meeting by phone, told the group the line labeled "security deposit" on the quotes is a one-time down payment applied to the total cost rather than an additional, nonrefundable fee. "It's basically... the down payment to the total funds. You get that one time," Nate said, adding he would send revised invoices with clearer wording so the city has documentation showing the amount is applied to the total purchase.
Council members confirmed specific figures on the record: one phone-system quote read aloud during the meeting totaled $9,463.60 as a one-time cost, with a recurring charge of $300.83 per month for 60 months. Officials also reviewed separate quotes for the police department’s computers and for citywide computer upgrades; one computer quote discussed for the police totaled about $65,003 with a deposit line of roughly $45,008 listed on the same document.
Travis, speaking for the police department, said the city had already paid roughly $21,000 toward onboarding and asked that the treasurer or Lisa join a live reconciliation call so the department could verify what those payments covered and what will remain owed. "The city's already paid, you know, about $21,000 onboard," Travis said, requesting Lisa be present on the accounting call.
A central point of concern was whether the incumbent vendor would remove hardware when its contract ends. Meeting participants said the vendor had indicated it would take equipment, which would force the city to replace desktops, laptops and other hardware. One attendee estimated the replacement cost could be about $162,000 if the city must buy everything outright. Officials asked the vendor and staff for a detailed list of equipment the vendor plans to remove and for a precise accounting of what the city already owns.
Members asked Nate to reissue the quotes with clearer language distinguishing a down payment from a separate security charge and to email the updated paperwork to Jeff (the city's contact) and to the finance staff. Staff agreed to ask the vendor for an itemized list of assets it will reclaim, and Speaker 2 offered to provide exact balance figures by Wednesday to help determine whether funds are available or additional appropriations will be needed.
The phone purchases were the only procurement item on the night's agenda. When Speaker 1 asked whether the group was "still good to vote on the phone purchases" tonight, other members responded affirmatively; the transcript records agreement to proceed with that agenda item, but does not include a formal recorded motion or vote tally.
Next steps recorded in the meeting: the vendor (InnoTech) will send clarified invoices; Jeff and finance staff will schedule a live reconciliation call with Travis for the police department; staff will seek an itemized list of hardware the vendor will remove; and city staff will produce precise budget numbers for the next update. The committee also agreed to arrange an on-site walkthrough with IT staff and department representatives to verify needs before final ordering.
This article was created by AI summarizing key points discussed. AI makes mistakes, so for full details and context, please refer to the video of the full meeting. Please report any errors so we can fix them.
Sunbury, PA City Council Budget Meeting 11/10/25-A public discussion of the 2026 budget.The regular city council meeting follows the budget meeting. That is ...
