“The City has also had to tap into reserves to sustain operations and continue providing the same level of services the community expects,” Interim City Administrator Sarah Knecht wrote in a budget message.
“The FY2025 budget assumes modest revenue growth, but this growth is not adequate to cover ongoing expenditure increases from current commitments, including pension costs, high inflation, insurance, capital investment, and many other impacts,” Knecht continued.
The city “program and financial plan” is approved in two-year cycles, with a budget for that program adopted annually by the City Council.
While nothing is etched in stone just yet, the current proposal offers a good idea of how things will shake out for the city’s Information Technology Division.
The department is responsible for “overseeing network infrastructure, cybersecurity, physical security systems, software and application management, computer application training, data management and analytics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), website and digital services, technical support, telecommunications, IT planning and budgeting, and emergency preparedness,” according to the proposed budget documents. It is funded through the Information Technology Fund and the Information Technology Capital Fund.
The Information Technology Fund seems to be in good health. In FY 2023, the fund stood at $5,164,511; FY 2024 projections put it at $6,208,379; the FY 2025 Year 2 approved budget came in at $6,386,161; and the FY 2025 recommended budget currently stands at $8,753,519.
Another area that shows broader promise for the department is the proposed staffing increase from 19.25 full-time employees in FY2023; 31 in FY 2024 projections; 22 in the FY 2025 Year 2 approved budget; and a proposed 35 in the FY 2025 recommended budget.
Here are the projected revenue and expenditures for the various program areas overseen by the IT Division for the FY 2025 recommended budget:
- Electronic Communications: Revenues $2,158,361 (internal charges); Expenses $2,116,170 (salaries, non-capital equipment, benefits, supplies and services, allocated costs)
- Enterprise Applications: Revenues $3,471,661 (internal charges); Expenses $3,347,264 (salaries, supplies and services, benefits, capital equipment and projects, allocated costs, transfers, debt services, non-capital equipment, other)
- Geographic Information Systems: Revenues (internal charges) $1,238,787; Expenses $1,507,179 (salaries, benefits, supplies and services, allocated costs, non-capital equipment)
- Network Infrastructure: Revenue $3,513,048 (internal charges); Expenses $3,764,686 (salaries, supplies and services, benefits, non-capital equipment, allocated costs, transfers, special projects, other, debt services)
Worth noting, a list of the city’s existing application portfolio can be found here. Some applications may not be listed for security reasons.
A final approval of the budget should be coming within the next few weeks.
