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The Daily Iowan
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The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan
The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

JoCo supervisors advance an agreement for an estimated $70,000 mapping software

Coined the Small Government Enterprise Agreement, the new software is expected to provide the county with updated services.
Grace Bartlett, News Reporter
January 21, 2026
Piper Goodrich
Board members are seen listening to speakers during a formal meeting of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors inside the County Health and Human Services Building in Iowa City on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025.

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors decided to move forward with an estimated $100,000 package of services for mapping software used by municipal and county governments. 

The Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, software is used by the county to track flooding, help residents find polling places, find map property information to track data and trends for general use, and more.

Johnson County has utilized its existing GIS software provider, the Environmental Systems Research Institute for 25 years. The provider  recently altered its licensing cost in 2025, doubling what the county typically pays from $36,400, to $63,100 in 2026, prompting a decision to use updated software despite the higher cost.

The first-year cost for Johnson County will be $69,525 and will increase to $101,125 over the course of three years and then stay at that set price. The agreement’s pricing includes an extra $10,000 for an ArcGIS Workflow Manager server. 

The supervisors heard from GIS Coordinator Rick Havel, who has served as Johnson County’s coordinator for 25 years, about more economic and updated alternatives for the existing GIS agreement the county uses.

Havel said having the manager server would increase efficient communication, but if it is determined as not needed, the annual cost for the agreement will be reduced by $10,825. 

Havel said there are nine other counties and 23 cities in Iowa utilizing the government enterprise agreement. 

RELATED: JoCo Board of Supervisors express concerns for potential budget cuts in fiscal year 2027

Bill Horning, information technology director for Johnson County, also spoke in support of the agreement and said with the agreement, the amount of software the county has access to would “drastically increase.” 

“The difference between the level and the value of software is great,” he said. “It’s really going to help us expand GIS accessibility and ability for us to produce a more wide range of products and services.”  

Supervisor Jon Green expressed his support of the GIS system and highlighted what the county uses the system for and its importance to the community. 

“This is a really rich resource, not just for policy makers and decision makers, but for the people we serve,” Green said.