City Plan to Consolidate IT Employees Scales Back

City Council Member Mike Siegel declared a victory of sorts last week on behalf of the city’s IT workers after City Manager T.C. Broadnax walked back the One ATS initiative, a plan to consolidate the workers into one department. One ATS, as it was initially proposed, would have moved over 400 of the workers employed in different city departments into the city’s main IT department, Austin Technology Services. That number has now dropped to 189 in what the city says will be the first of a three-phase process. 

“It was brave city workers who raised their voices in objection to a massive and rapid reorganization of technology services, and who won significant victories to limit the scope and pace of the effort,” Siegel said in a statement. “While I share the commitment of city management and workers to improve efficiencies across our technological programs, it was clear that the initial proposal went too far, too fast and presented serious risks of harm to programs, services, and constituents.”

In declaring the victory, Siegel withdrew a resolution co-sponsored by CMs José Velásquez, Paige Ellis, Zo Qadri, and Vanessa Fuentes that had been scheduled for a vote on May 7. The resolution would have directed Broadnax to postpone any transfer of employees into ATS until the city manager made further justifications of the effort. 

Siegel’s decision to withdraw the resolution followed the release of a pair of memos by Broadnax on April 29 and May 6 which announced the downsizing of One ATS and promised that the remaining parts of the consolidation would be executed transparently and with the engagement of IT workers. The May 6 memo stated that the process would include “employee meetings; work sessions with departments to delineate roles, responsibilities and service requirements; and continued City Council briefings and memorandums providing updates.”

AFSCME Local 1624, the city workers union, has led a well-organized campaign against One ATS with public actions and appearances before Council. While Siegel sees the scale-back as a win, union leaders were not exactly celebratory in their response to Broadnax’s memos. They expressed gratitude to the Council members who brought attention to the plan but said they remain unsatisfied with the idea of centralizing IT workers. 

“We are disappointed that OATS will move forward with the phase one reassignment of 189 workers, removing all IT staff from nine departments including police, fire, EMS, libraries, and public health,” AFSCME’s David Cruz said in a press release. “We will continue to hold leadership accountable for this misguided plan that puts public services, safety, and data at risk.”

“We urge city management to learn from this experience by engaging workers early, listening deeply, and shaping their plans alongside people who understand how city services function best.”

Since the launch of their campaign in March, AFSCME’s leaders have stressed that Broadnax didn’t have an adequate plan in place before beginning the consolidation. They continue to argue that the city hasn’t communicated transparently with workers, and that the plan risks damage to public safety, information security, and the city’s electric grid. They also say it is crucial that the city maintain a hybrid organizational structure for technology services, in which some departments hire and manage their own tech workers while the city maintains its central IT department.

In his November 2025 memo, Broadnax rejected the hybrid model, pointing out that Austin has twice as many IT workers as other cities and spends $200 million more per year on the services. But last week, he said the city will study hybrid approaches and report its findings back to Council. He also committed to preserving the IT workers’ pay, leave, benefits, and seniority. Broadnax also said the city will proceed with a separate part of the consolidation that will reduce the number of duplicate computer applications that the hybrid organizational structure has allowed to proliferate. That effort could save the city as much as $142 million a year and has been supported by AFSCME all along. 

With city leaders’ February approval of the Comprehensive Efficiency Assessment Program, a series of rolling audits of the city’s 40-plus departments, One ATS is expected to be just the first of many attempts to reorganize city services in coming years. City leaders and workers are watching its progress closely. Carol Guthrie, business manager at AFSCME, had some advice for city managers as they contemplated the pursuit of further efficiencies. 

“We urge city management to learn from this experience by engaging workers early, listening deeply, and shaping their plans alongside people who understand how city services function best,” Guthrie said. “With more shared-service reorganizations on the horizon, AFSCME 1624 will remain focused on ensuring One ATS, and any future reorganizations, do no harm to workers, residents, or the services Austin depends on.”

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