Title
Resolution to Approve Contracts for Upgrade of Tax and Assessing Software Systems ($58,801.00)
Memorandum
The resolution before you is to approve an upgrade of Tax and Assessing software systems. The City’s Treasury, Assessing, Information Technology, and Accounting Service Units, in response to increased concerns regarding data integrity, data interfaces, and commonality of platform with other City applications and Washtenaw County’s Treasurer and Equalization applications, propose this upgrade. Funding for this project is budgeted and available in the Information Technology Fund.
Current City Tax and Assessing systems are provided by BS&A Software (“BS&A”). The platform is antiquated in terms of database architecture, and is inconsistent with other City applications, making the interfaces to the financial system less efficient. Two years ago, BS&A upgraded its software suite to operate in a .Net environment. The new version of BS&A software has been adopted with success in many municipalities across the State of Michigan.
Although BS&A continues to support the old version of its software suite, we believe that they will eventually abandon the antiquated platform and support only their .Net version. We plan to address this issue proactively, so that we can migrate to the .Net version in a thorough and consistent manner, and on a timetable that is dictated by the City’s needs rather than on a sunset date dictated by our software provider.
Additionally, the migration to the .Net version of BS&A software will align our database platforms, allow for easier and more accurate interfaces between City systems, and ensure conformity with County Treasurer and Equalization platforms. It will also provide employees, citizens and real estate professionals with more flexible access to tax and assessing data, greater flexibility and ease in reporting, and a modern look and feel to the applications. The new version of the software has many features that are ...
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