A city’s AI platforms and stewards still run on one-time innovation grants. What funding shift supports sustainment?

If city AI platforms and stewards still run on one-time innovation grants, the funding shift that supports sustainment is moving platforms and steward roles onto operating budget rather than one-time grants. Grants are useful for discovery; production civic services need predictable OpEx for licenses, monitoring, content stewardship, accessibility fixes, and on-call coverage. Operating-budget placement signals that AI is part of municipal service delivery, not a temporary experiment. Keeping reliance on unpredictable grant windfalls indefinitely fails because grant gaps create forced outages, lost stewards, and rushed shutdowns that harm residents. Cutting all platform funding once the first pilot launches fails because launch is the start of cost and risk, not the end. Funding only marketing campaigns while leaving operations unfunded fails by amplifying demand without capacity to keep answers accurate and safe. Exam caveat: items may frame grants as "innovative funding"; correct sustainment answers convert proven capabilities onto stable municipal budgets. Operational check: inventory grant-funded platforms and FTE stewards, build an OpEx business case tied to service outcomes, and schedule the budget transition before the current grant end date.