Technology Services budget rises as city advances radio system, cloud migration and AI planning

Greg Prados, director of Technology Services, told the council on May 5 that his department’s proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget is just over $23 million, an approximate 11% increase driven largely by operational costs for new cloud-hosted software and annual licensing increases.

Prados said the department has shifted from capital-heavy outlays to higher recurring operational expenses as systems migrate to cloud services, and that those license and contract renewals — together with internal service rate increases for vehicles and technology — account for most of the budgetary growth.

The technology department also briefed the council on a multi-year regional radio replacement project intended to modernize public safety communications. Prados said the city’s share of the project began with an initial purchase authorization that was expanded over time and that the city had an approved not-to-exceed amount for initial procurement. He described a contract award to Motorola, deployment of portable radios to police and fire and the installation of fiber links between the Police Department and the county emergency communications center to host two radio cores for the Bakersfield cell of the regional system.

“We are probably in the second full year of a multiyear project,” Prados said, adding that detailed design review completion is expected around July and construction and site augmentation will follow. He said six sites were identified for the Bakersfield cell and estimated construction could take up to a year and a half, with a potential cutover for the Bakersfield cell between July and September 2027. Prados and council members also described a broader countywide build‑out that could take much longer.

Prados told the council that funding came primarily from the voter‑approved public safety initiative related to PSVS and that the project price had been authorized in stages. Council member Gonzales and others emphasized that the radio system is a long‑needed upgrade from legacy analog equipment and thanked staff for the progress.

Prados also highlighted cybersecurity gains: Technology Services now runs a security management team that performs red/blue exercises, penetration testing and rapid remediation; he said the city’s average response time to account takeovers is approximately 24 hours, compared with an industry average of about 72 hours. He said the project and data management team has completed 134 projects, manages about 80 terabytes of structured data (which Prados equated to millions of document pages), and currently has 14 active projects.

On artificial intelligence, Prados said the city needs policy and governance before broad deployment: "We have to put some sort of policy in place, some sort of framework around the use of AI here at the city," he said, adding that Technology Services is working with the city manager’s office on an AI framework.

Councilors asked how the department’s increased spending squares with anticipated efficiencies from technology. Prados and City Manager Clegg said that many investments produce time savings and additional capabilities rather than direct headcount reductions; they also said the city is still catching up after years of limited investment and that some large, one‑time increases tied to migration and licensing were expected to level off in future years.

The council discussed procurement and ERP/data work; Prados said the data management team has converted decades of information for the ERP and currently manages hundreds of terabytes when video and unstructured data are included. He said no additional permanent staff positions were proposed for Technology Services in this cycle, though temporary roles ended with cost savings.