City of Austin Includes at Least $144.7M for IT in FY 24 Budget

The city of Austin has $5.5 billion overall budget for the coming fiscal year, including $144.7 million for Communication and Technology Management’s (CTM) operating budget. The fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

CTM has 332 employees who provide services ranging from desktop support to contract negotiation for city departments and regional partners.

A complex example of the department’s service would be its support of the Combined Transportation, Emergency and Communications Center (CTECC) and its public safety mission. The center relies on CTM for call center infrastructure, public safety technology, wireless communication, mobile data computing, vehicle equipment and body cameras, according to the budget documents. It is an intergovernmental center working with multiple municipalities.

The operating budget for CTM includes:

• Communications and technology management, $82 million
• CTECC and public safety IT support, $28.2 million
• Support services, $4.2 million
• Transfers, debt service and other requirements, $14.2 million
• Wireless communications services, $16.1 million

The Information Security Office, a separate department founded in 2019, has 24 full-time positions and will have an $11 million budget. In FY 25, the Information Security Office will have $701,796 more for contracted IT consulting for the city’s Office 365 environment and $311,549 more for SaaS contracts and their expansions.

Other departments’ operating budgets include separate funding for IT as well.

There are capital projects of note listed, with these allocations listed separately. CTM’s five-year capital budget is listed at $87.8 million. These funds will go toward items including buildings and improvements; information technology and vehicles and equipment. Projects include:

• Modernizing the Application Management and Data Automation (AMANDA) System, aka the Licensing and Permitting Modernization Project, will be a $3.3 million undertaking in 2024, followed by three years of work totaling $20.8 million.
• The Greater Austin-Travis County Regional Radio System (GATRRS) is up for a restoration and key management facility upgrade. The funds for these line items amount to $6.5 million in 2024 and 2025. The project has nearly $4 million allocated for 2026 and 2027.
• A web redesign has four years of funding, the first round in 2024 totals $435,695 and the additional are $1,209,330.