City hall plans to make it easier for residents to pay all their municipal bills online by integrating all internal software programs under a more modern system.
As part of this new system, a web interface called Virtual City Hall will be introduced that will be accessible from the internet and a mobile app. It will allow residents to sign up for a municipal account, where they can access information such as:
- Payment manager for online payments
- Property taxes: history, viewing, payment
- Utility bills: history and viewing
- Business licences: viewing, applying, renewing
- Pet licences: viewing, applying, renewing
The system will also be cloud-based, resulting in less hardware to maintain and replace, according to a report from city administration.
During its Nov. 25 regular meeting, city council voted 6-1 to award the supply and implementation of an “Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System” to Diamond Municipal Systems for $1.92 million, replacing the current JD Edwards system.
The accumulated depreciation of the 2020 equipment reserve budget would account for $1,382,545, while $545,072 would come from the general capital reserve portion of the capital budget in 2021 — which is also the year when the system would be fully operational. Updates about the implementation and installation of the new system will also be provided every quarter.
Coun. Brian Swanson was opposed.
An ERP system is a corporate-wide software system that brings together data into a central location and enables city hall to be more efficient in work that requires money.
Background
The proposed software purchase would cost $417,159, implementation costs would be $735,220 and a 10-per-cent contingency fund would bring the cost to $1.26 million. An extra $660,000 would be added for a full-time project manager and backfill for staff positions that require extra time for the project. This brings the project to $1.92 million.
There would also be an annual recurring licensing and support fee paid to Diamond Municipal Systems for $180,799.
“To be able to serve its citizens in a timely and efficient manner, the city needs the ability to have an integrated system to manage its business processes and to make the leap forward into the 21st century and implement a fully integrated ERP system,” the report said, adding city hall would move away from some manual paper-based systems, which would save money in areas such as postage.
Finance director Brian Acker told council that more than 11,000 customers receive utility bills every quarter. It costs $1 per stamp plus work by staff. There could be savings of more than $12,000 per year there, along with savings when sending out tax notices and assessments.
Council discussion
“This (current) system dates back to 2000 … ,” said city manager Jim Puffalt. “We have been bolting on systems onto this (current) system for quite some time. A better solution would be to move to an integrated system that took advantage of all the productivity increases that have been possible over the last 20 years.”
Puffalt reassured Coun. Heather Eby that the new system wouldn’t be outdated anytime soon. One reason is the system is cloud-based, while a second reason is free software updates would be provided regularly.
“I believe our citizens would be very disappointed and probably shocked over the current levels of automation in the city and the processes and our inefficiencies,” said Coun. Scott McMann, adding it was critical that municipal staff be on-side with this new program.
Updating internal software systems is the “biggest piece of the pie” city council has faced in its quest to modernize city hall, said Coun. Crystal Froese. A new municipal website will be launched next year, while the Diamond Municipal System will enhance the way the municipality does business internally.
One thing residents talk about often is wanting to do more municipal business online and having that accessibility, said Mayor Fraser Tolmie. While some people still want paper bills and will still receive them, he pointed out the cost of paper and putting bills in the mail adds up.
“I’m very disappointed that the JD Edwards program did not work out,” Tolmie continued. However, the municipality must move forward if that program does not meet its needs.
It would help this council and the next council if progress reports were provided on how quickly the new program is being implemented, said Coun. Dawn Luhning. If the program is not at least 50-per-cent installed by next year, there need to be measurements and followup, while council also needs to be made aware.
City council gushed about the JD Edwards program when it was first installed too, said Swanson. This new project will cost $2.1 million, with $1.4 million coming from reserves, while $545,000 is unbudgeted and is coming from a reserve already in a deficit position by millions of dollars.
“The average person in Moose Jaw will see no change in their service at all from these expenditures … It’s behind-the-scenes stuff,” he said, adding he didn’t believe there would be any cost savings or efficiencies. “My calculation is we’re going up to $118 million in our debt level in two years.”
The next regular council meeting is Dec. 9.
