10 - Upgrade of CMSD's Financial SoftwareC Costa Mesa Sanitary District …an Independent Special District Protecting our com munity’s health and the environment by providing solid waste and sewer collection services. www.cmsdca.gov Memorandum To: Board of Directors Via: Scott Carroll, General Manager From : Wendy Davis, Interim Finance Manager Date: June 17 , 2014 Subject: Upgrade of CMSD’s Financial Software Summary The District has not upgraded it s Springbrook software since 2007 . In the last seven years there have been substantial improvements in software and hardware technology . Staff has reviewed two products; Springbrook and Tyler Technologies ’ Encode to either upgrade or change software. Both companies provide compara ble products that are well respected and would meet the District’s need s . T herefore , the determining factor is price as outlined in the analysis below. Staff Recommendation That the Board of Directo rs direct staff to bring this item back to the June 2 6 , 2014 Board of Directors regular meeting with the following recommendation s: 1. A pprove the agreement with Springbrook Software to upgrade the existing software ; 2. P urchase the HR Lite and Employee Self Service module ; and 3. A ppropriat e an amount not to exceed $55 ,000 in the 2014 -15 fiscal -year from retained earnings. Analysis In June 2004 , t he District purchased Springbrook software for all of its financial applications. This original purchase included a substantial amount of custom ization to the Building Per mits module to allow the track ing of sewer and trash assessments by Assessor Parcel Number (APN ) and to transmit them t o the County of Orange to be placed on the Property Tax Rolls . ITEM NO. 10
Board of Directors June 17 , 2014 Page 2 of 3 In September of 2007, the Board approved an upgrade of Springbrook to ver sion 6.06 as well as the purchase of the Fixed Asset and Accounts Receivable modules. There have been no upgrades to the system since 2007. As software ages, it becomes more difficult to obtain support software companies and increases the overall cost of support because i t’s spread over fewer users . Springbrook will continue to support o u r software ; however , Microsoft has announced the “E nd of S upport Li fe” for their Windows XP later this year and their Windows Server 2003 Edition in 2015. Both of these products are used to run our Springbrook software and will need to be upgraded regardless of the software selected . Staff contacted Springbrook for a demonstration of the latest version of their software. The proposed version 7.0 is a web based product which has substantial enhancements over our current version. Some of the custom coding in our Building Permit s module has become standard in the proposed version, thereby reducing the amount of customizing needed . The bid proposal for upgrading our existing modules which includ es customizing the Building Permits module is $25,800, not including travel expenses . With the increased number of employees , there is an increased need for Human Resources software. Staff is interested in purchasing the H R Lite a nd Employee Self Service module . This m odule will provide improved internal controls by separating some of the HR functions from the Payroll functions. It will also allow employees online access to their pay stubs, W -2 ’s and forms. The bid to purchase t his module is $9,500. The Tyler Technologies ’ Encode software demonstr ation showed staff that this product is comparable to Springbrook . Encode appears to meet the District’s needs for all of the basic financial modules. However, the Building Permits mo dule would need to be enhanced to track our assessments and transmit them to the County . Staff and Tyler discussed different options to best meet our needs but could not find a solution other than modifying their Building Permits module. The bid proposal from Tyler for their Encode product is $79,967, not including travel expenses and any customization . Estimated Costs:Springbrook Tyler Encode Financial/HR modules 35,300 $ 79,967 $ Training Travel Expenses 5,000 13,000 Microsoft Server Licenses 5,000 5,000 IT assistance/Daedalus Technologies 5,000 5,000 Contingency 4,700 4,700 55,000 $ 107,667 $ Based on the pricing shown above, staff is recommending the District upgrade the Springbrook software and purchase the HR Lite and Employee Self Servi ce module. The annual maintenance fees have been included in the 2014 -15 budget however nothing was budgeted to upgrade the software. ITEM NO. 10
Board of Directors June 17 , 2014 Page 3 of 3 Strategic Plan Element & Goal This item supports achieving Strategic Element No. 7.0, Finances, which states: “Objectiv e: To ensuring the short and long -term fiscal health of the District.” “Strategy : The District will forecast and plan revenue and expenditures and maintain appropriate reserves and investments to provide financial resources to fund current and planned operations and projects.” Legal Review Not applicable at this time. Environmental Review Consideration of upgrading software is an administrative matter, and administrative matters are exempt under CEQA and the District’s CEQA Guidelines. Financial Revie w The approved fiscal year 2014 -15 budget does not include funds for a software upgrade . The Board would need to approve an appropriation of $55,000 from Retained Earnings for the Springbrook upgrade. Public Notice Process Copies of this report are on file and will be included with the entire agenda packet for the June 17, 2014 Bo ard of Directors study session at District Headquarters and on District website. Alternative Actions 1. Refer the matter back to staff for additional information. Attachments A: Springbrook and Tyler bid proposals. ITEM NO. 10
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