St. Louis County Adopts AI Budget Tool

St. Louis County, Missouri, approved a yearlong, $273,000 contract with Tyler Technologies for an AI budget tool as officials seek savings from a $53 million deficit. The tool compares county budget data with information about budgets and cost-saving measures from governments across the country, then generates reports with ideas. Tyler is based in Plano, Texas, and says the software has been used by hundreds of governments, from Los Angeles to Kansas City.

Recommendations so far include trimming jail overtime, charging commercial vendors at seasonal and holiday events, and cutting some holiday programming. A Parks and Recreation report said one program added little to county results, was not legally required and had alternatives. Another suggested fees for vendors, promotional booths, fundraisers and private rentals, estimating $14,000 to $29,000 in annual revenue. A report also proposed monitoring building energy use to identify after-hours heating and cooling waste, estimating $19,000 to $29,000 in yearly savings.

Tyler senior director Chris Fabian said the tool uses traditional machine learning (systems that identify patterns in data) to find comparable government problems and solutions, then prepare reports from that information; he said it does not create new content like generative AI. Some reports are seven pages and list governments that have taken suggested steps, alongside estimated savings. A Justice Services report, for example, asked whether the county had considered filling posts and reducing overtime.

County budget director Chris Grahn-Howard said some ideas could enter this year's budget, but the council plans to examine the reports in more detail next year. He said officials had not yet had time to study the programs closely. County Executive Sam Page's spokesperson Elizabeth Eisele said the recommendations had not been very helpful because the county was already doing many of them; she cited replacing older lights with LEDs, which the county did years ago. Denver-based National Civic League president Doug Linkhart said officials should carefully review any suggestions and seek ideas from residents as well. The tool's annual cost is expected to fall to roughly $250,000 in Year 2.

St. Louis County, Missouri, approved a yearlong, $273,000 contract with Tyler Technologies for an AI budget tool as officials seek savings from a $53 million deficit. The tool compares county budget data with information about budgets and cost-saving measures from governments across the country, then generates reports with ideas. Tyler is based in Plano, Texas, and says the software has been used by hundreds of governments, from Los Angeles to Kansas City.

Recommendations so far include trimming jail overtime, charging commercial vendors at seasonal and holiday events, and cutting some holiday programming. A Parks and Recreation report said one program added little to county results, was not legally required and had alternatives. Another suggested fees for vendors, promotional booths, fundraisers and private rentals, estimating $14,000 to $29,000 in annual revenue. A report also proposed monitoring building energy use to identify after-hours heating and cooling waste, estimating $19,000 to $29,000 in yearly savings.

Tyler senior director Chris Fabian said the tool uses traditional machine learning (systems that identify patterns in data) to find comparable government problems and solutions, then prepare reports from that information; he said it does not create new content like generative AI. Some reports are seven pages and list governments that have taken suggested steps, alongside estimated savings. A Justice Services report, for example, asked whether the county had considered filling posts and reducing overtime.

County budget director Chris Grahn-Howard said some ideas could enter this year's budget, but the council plans to examine the reports in more detail next year. He said officials had not yet had time to study the programs closely. County Executive Sam Page's spokesperson Elizabeth Eisele said the recommendations had not been very helpful because the county was already doing many of them; she cited replacing older lights with LEDs, which the county did years ago. Denver-based National Civic League president Doug Linkhart said officials should carefully review any suggestions and seek ideas from residents as well. The tool's annual cost is expected to fall to roughly $250,000 in Year 2.