Subject:
Title
Munis Project Funding Request to Address Corrections and Modifications
Body
EXPLANATION AND SUMMARY:
To ensure completion of the Munis system implementation and all its supporting modules - and to reap the benefits of having a fully integrated system - the following items need to be addressed:
• This project originally had an aggressive implementation schedule with all modules going live between June 2015 and October 2016. This schedule was originally created with the intent to no longer pay for support of legacy applications (along with support for the new Tyler Munis system) after October 2016. This aggressive schedule, which called for implementation of 13 modules, including General Ledger and Payroll systems in 2014-15 and then the remaining revenue and permit modules in 2016, spread Town Finance staff thin. In working on multiple module conversions simultaneously, certain conversions did not receive proper support and suffered dramatically.
• Fairfax County is providing a master address file to the Town that will assist in populating address and parcel data for Town properties. Fairfax County anticipates that this file will be available to the Town by the end of August 2016, later than the Town had originally planned. The delay in receiving this file has pushed back the go-live dates for the following modules:
o Permits
o Tax (Real Estate and Vehicle License Fees)
o Business License and Meals Tax
o Utility Billing
o Work Orders/Fixed Assets
o Incident Management (App)
• The following Tyler Munis modules are dependent upon extraction of data to be converted and then imported into Tyler Munis. Data for these applications are coming from legacy software applications that require assistance for conversions.
o Utility Billing
o Real Estate Tax and Vehicle License Fees
o Business License and Meals Tax
Since May 2016, staff has been in contact with both Sungard and Norman Alan, vendors of each of the legacy applications, to get assistance in extracting their data and the conversion process to Tyler Munis. The data being extracted is account information and supporting historical data that is required to be accessible by Virginia Library retention schedules.
Staff has requested that Tyler Munis, Norman Alan, and Sungard each provide cost estimates for successfully extracting and then converting data for the remaining five (5) modules; the estimates total approximately $79,350. Staff requests that Council consider including a 10% contingency fund of $7,935 to cover any unforeseen issues, totaling an overall cost of $87,285. Details are provided in the attached schedule.
Staff has considered delaying conversion of one of the remaining modules to go live in 2018. Doing so would reduce the amount of this requested item by $35,750. However, consequences of doing this would cause the Town to incur additional costs to maintain annual support to Norman Alan for the exiting Business Licenses/BPOL/Meals Tax application in the amount of $7,500 as well as annual support of $7,544.42 to Tyler Munis for replacement applications, for a total cost of $15,044.42 per year. Finance staff also would experience inefficiencies with internal processes while still using two systems. One system would be used to post and send out bills, while the other is used to collect payments. Manual reconciliation would have to be performed between the two systems until the remaining Tyler Munis applications are brought online. Additionally, those costs would still have to be funded in 2017-18 and would increase with that delay.
Therefore, it is our recommendation to move forward with the proposed, revised implementation schedule, and we request funding of additional costs to support the remaining modules and conclude installation in the spring/summer of 2017. Funding will come from unallocated funds from the 2014 bond premium. With these additional costs, the total project cost is $855,547.00.
Departmental Recommendation:
It is the IT and Finance departments’ recommendation to move forward with the revised implementation schedule, and we request funding of additional costs to support the remaining modules.
Finance Recommendation: Finance recommends approval
Purchasing Recommendation: Recommend approval
Town Attorney Recommendation: Town Council may approve the proposed expenditure of funds in its discretion.
Town Manager's Recommendation: I recommend Town Council approve additional funding for the Tyler Munis project.
Cost and Financing: $87,285
Account Number: 300-000-0000-39425-48803, Project Number 2150700243
Decision Needed by This Date:
PROPOSED/SUGGESTED MOTION
Recommended Action
"I move to approve additional funding for the Tyler Munis project in the amount of 87,285 from account 300-000-0000-39425-48803, for a total project cost of $855,547.00."
Or
Other action deemed necessary by Council.