City Clerk Jim Ozarski and deputies told the Finance and Personnel Committee that the City Clerk’s Office is pursuing software and records upgrades to improve licensing, public access and records‑management. The office presented a proposed 2026 operating budget and outlined a capital request to start a citywide enterprise records‑management project.

Budget snapshot and fees: The clerk’s proposed budget total was shown in budget slides at about $12.7 million for 2026 and 102.4 FTEs. The presentation noted an unadopted fee schedule change the clerk submitted that would increase revenue by an estimated $625,000 across 78 fees (including food dealers and other business licenses) but needs council adoption to take effect.

Licensing modernization: The clerk said the aging Lyra licensing system will be replaced by a newer Acela product to modernize online services and reduce in‑person demand at the counter. License manager Jim Cooney and clerks described efforts to make licensing services accessible online and noted the MKE Mobile app already supports objections and some license features; the clerk said some public‑facing licensing pages will need ergonomic redesign before being migrated into an app environment.

Enterprise records management (ERM): Ozarski outlined a $120,000 capital appropriation in the mayor’s proposed 2026 plan for a needs and design study to select and scope a citywide ERM system. He and City Records Officer Brett Houston said an ERM would centralize retention schedules, identify official records and reduce legal and cybersecurity risk; the clerk’s office warned that without centralized control, records can be harder to find and more exposed to cyber incidents or discovery problems.

Public information and services: The clerk highlighted ongoing municipal‑ID issuance, city‑channel production and graphic design services, noting award recognition for a Bronzeville‑themed video and translation of popular financial publications into Spanish and Hmong for language access. The Clerk’s Office also provides administrative support to the Historic Preservation Commission and handled federally required Section 106 reviews tied to development projects.

AI and accessibility: The office said it has adopted AI‑based closed captioning for council broadcasts (English and Spanish) and that legal and records uses of AI will be evaluated carefully. Ozarski emphasized use cases and human review as guiding principles.

Next steps: If the council approves the ERM scoping appropriation and the license‑fee ordinance, the clerk’s office will proceed with vendor selection and the design study. The office will also work with the budget office to provide multi‑year special‑fund carryover and expenditure data requested by committee members.

Ending: The clerk said staff will continue to deploy digital tools to reduce in‑person demand and to make records both more accessible and more secure.