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Providence IT proposes $8.23 million budget for FY 2026; software licenses and OpenGov shift drive increase
Summary
City Chief Information Officer Lynn Rivera outlined the IT department’s proposed FY2026 budget, citing a $8,228,368 total, a major increase in software licensing costs and a planned transition of OpenGov expenses from ARPA to the general fund.
Chief Information Officer Lynn Rivera presented the Providence IT proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2026 and explained major drivers of the department’s requested spending.
Rivera told the council the proposed total expenditures for FY2026 are $8,228,368, a 6.7 percent increase over FY2025. She said the largest cost drivers are enterprise‑wide software licenses and enterprise resource planning (ERP) support, noting roughly $3.4 million to $3.6 million is budgeted for citywide software licensing and related services. Rivera said some software costs (including an OpenGov budgeting tool) were initially paid from ARPA funds but are being folded into the general fund in FY2026, contributing to the budget increase.
Rivera described a technology fee the city added last fiscal year — a $2 per transaction fee applied to certain tickets — and said the city expects to collect revenue once the first payments clear (implementation of the fee on tickets began in January 2025). She said the fee is expected to generate revenue when ticket payments are processed and estimated that ticket volume could be around 80,000 transactions in FY2026.
On personnel, Rivera said the department budget accounts for cost‑of‑living increases, step increases and the defunding of a Clerk 4 position (annual salary previously about $40,796). Rivera noted two positions transferred into IT from the police department and the commissioner’s budget; those transfers are budget neutral. She also described a team of product/project managers who oversee city software projects such as 311, dispatch upgrades (Tyler Technologies) and other public‑facing systems.
Council members questioned software license growth, phone/device counts and vacancy management. Rivera said the city has been auditing licenses and usage and has about 428 administrative mobile devices on the non‑public safety side; the department runs monthly reviews and will suspend or cancel under‑used services. She described cybersecurity training and regular simulated phishing tests and said the city has staff and contracted services dedicated to protecting networks and data, but declined to provide operational security details in public comments.
Rivera and council members discussed operational efficiencies from software projects, including an online “roll call” and permitting systems that have reduced manual payroll and invoicing work. Rivera said those system changes have generated operational savings and, in some instances, allowed the city to defund positions as processes were automated. The department answered questions about vacancy counts, a defunded clerk position and program staffing.
