Treasury gets an IT lift

Fiscal 2002 budget

The Treasury Department could get a significant increase in its information technology budget, buoyed by spending for the Customs Service's Automated Commercial Environment and the Internal Revenue Service's modernization.

In its fiscal 2002 budget proposal released this week, the administration is seeking an 8.6 percent increase in Treasury's IT budget, raising it to $3 billion from $2.8 billion is this fiscal year.

The administration has requested $228 million for software development for ACE, an Internet-based system that can handle a greater volume of imports than the 17-year-old Automated Commercial System. Customs this month plans to award a $1.3 billion contract to modernize the system.

As expected, the Bush administration has proposed $398 million for IRS modernization, a request that is less than the $450 million the IRS Oversight Board has said is necessary.

The Treasury budget also includes:

$25 million for Treasury's Integrated Treasury Network. $5 million in continued funding for Treasury's International Trade Data System. $26 million for Treasury's HR Connect, which improves the department's human resource systems. Dorobek is a freelance writer based in Arlington, Va.