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Commissioner Carpenter - To Approve the Purchase and Authorize the County Manager to Execute the Necessary Documents in Order to Purchase a New ERP System that Will Replace Existing Systems for HR/Budget/Finance/Building Inspections and Tax
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STAFF CONTACT
Bryant Morehead - Interim Assistant County Manager/Director of Financial Services - 704-866-3038
BUDGET IMPACT
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These appropriations are from prior year capital projects, increased revenue projections and funds previously set aside for the last revaluation project.
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BUDGET ORDINANCE IMPACT
Funds currently available from the capital fund will fund $1,457,025 of the cost for the HR, Budget, Finance costs, increased revenue projections will fund $182,073 of the costs for the new Building Inspection software. The Tax software will be purchased using a projected $124,999 of prior year capital funding and $375,241 of previously funded revaluation dollars.
BACKGROUND
Gaston County currently has vastly outdated software systems for HR/Budget/Finance/, Building Inspections, and Tax. Many of our applications are over 20 years old. These core systems run on an IBM AS400 mid-frame and are written using RPG code. These skills are no longer taught, and finding support staff is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, County staff began looking at alternative solutions several months ago. After reviewing suitable software from a number of vendors, the County focused its efforts on Tyler Munis Systems for HR/Budget/Finance and Tyler EnerGov for Building Inspections.
The Tax Office is still in the process of completing the proposal process that will include software that has CAMA, Billing, and Collections components. This action sets aside projected costs for the tax system but the final software solution will be brought back to the Board of Commissioners for final approval.
By implementing new, integrated systems, we can expect significant improvements in employee productivity and gains in staff efficiency by using these new applications. We think that there is significant value in replacing our applications with newer, Windows-based solutions. Over the next 2+ years, we could eliminate the need for the 2 AS400 hardware systems and their maintenance. It would also help us eliminate antiquated methodologies that have been passed down over the past 20+ years and conform to current industry standards. Ease of navigation, reporting functionality, and much more will improve with this new solution. County staff requests that the Board of Commissioners approve the purchase of these systems in an effort to modernize our legacy systems.
POLICY IMPACT
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ATTACHMENTS
Budget Change Request