Municipal AI
Terminology Guide
Plain-language definitions for the terms that come up when evaluating AI platforms, government compliance requirements, and municipal technology.
311 System
A non-emergency phone number that residents use to contact city services for information, complaints, and service requests.
ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act)
Federal legislation providing $350 billion to state, local, and tribal governments for pandemic recovery. Funds must be obligated by December 2024 and spent by December 2026.
Call Deflection
Redirecting constituent inquiries from expensive human-staffed channels (phone, in-person) to lower-cost automated channels (AI chat, self-service portals).
CivicPlus
A government technology company providing website, agenda management, and citizen engagement platforms to local governments.
Constituent Services
Municipal services provided directly to residents, including information requests, complaints, permits, utility billing, and public records.
Digital Front Door
A unified digital entry point for all constituent interactions with their municipality — replacing fragmented phone trees, PDF forms, and in-person visits.
EO 13166
Executive Order 13166, signed in 2000, requiring federal agencies and their funding recipients to provide meaningful access to LEP individuals.
GovRAMP
A security authorization framework for government cloud services, similar to FedRAMP but designed for state and local government adoption.
GovTech
Technology products and services designed specifically for government agencies and public sector operations.
Human-in-the-Loop
An AI system design where complex or sensitive queries are escalated to human staff rather than handled entirely by automation.
ICMA
International City/County Management Association — a professional organization for local government management professionals.
Intelligence Layer
Software that sits on top of existing systems to provide AI-powered analysis, automation, and insights without replacing the underlying infrastructure.
LEP (Limited English Proficient)
Individuals who do not speak English as their primary language and have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English.
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
An AI technique that retrieves relevant documents before generating a response, ensuring answers are grounded in factual sources rather than hallucinated.
Safe Harbor Threshold
Under Title VI, if an LEP language group constitutes 5% or 1,000 individuals (whichever is less) of the eligible population, written translation of vital documents is required.
SOC 2 Type II
A security compliance framework that verifies an organization's controls over data security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy over a sustained period.
Source Citation
AI responses that include links back to the original municipal documents or policies from which the information was derived, enabling verification.
STR (Short-Term Rental)
Residential properties rented for periods shorter than 30 days, typically through platforms like Airbnb and VRBO.
Title VI
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance.
Tyler Technologies
The largest software company in North America focused exclusively on the public sector, providing ERP, financial, and court management systems.
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