Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-20-2009 - 4qORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 20, 2009 Action Agenda Item No. L~- - ~ SUBJECT: Contracting with Property Information Management System Software V-endors, Project Mana ers, and Transitional Contract Assistance DEPARTMENT: Information Technologies, PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Assessor, Revenue, Purchasing ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Jones, (919) 245-2285r None John Smith, (919) 245-2101 Jo Roberson, (919) 245-2727 Pam Jones, (919) 245-2652 PURPOSE: To: 1) Authorize the County Attorney to develop/finalize the appropriate documents and contracts for implementing the Property Information Management System (PIMS) software including: • two contracts for the software vendors (Patriot Systems and IIS) • one for the licensing agency for the Billing and Collections component (NCACC) and • two for the project management consulting firms (Barry Strock Consulting Associates and Visser Project Management Associates). 2) Authorize the Chair to sign all documents and contracts as developed/finalized by the County Attorney; and 3) Authorize the Manager to sign future contracts for transitional assistance, additional customization and hardware purchases required to cost- effectively complete the project. BACKGROUND: The County has relied on an internally developed software system for tracking and managing land records, property valuation and payment data for over 30 years. This system, known as the Legacy System, has been modified and enhanced over the decades to meet the County's needs and has played an important role in helping the Assessor's Office maintain accurate valuations while helping the Revenue Office maintain high collection rates. The Legacy System, however, exists today on a fundamentally antiquated computing platform. The underlying architecture makes it difficult to integrate with more modern software, an increasingly important requirement as the County moves toward enterprise systems for greater efficiencies. Further, the expertise for maintaining the Legacy System is increasingly difficult to find and develop. 2 The departments of the Tax Assessor, Revenue and Information Technologies have been working since 2005 to investigate replacing the Legacy System with a modern and more supportable system. In 2006 work began on identifying functional requirements for a new system. This was accomplished using consulting resources (Carolina Consulting Group) working closely with the Chief Information Officer, Information Technologies' Business Analyst and staff from the Tax Assessor's and Revenue offices. From this functional requirements work, the departments and Purchasing developed a Request for Proposal that was received on July 20, 2007. (North Carolina General Statute 143-129.8 authorizes local governments to use a "request for proposals" (RFP) process to purchase information technology goods and services. This procedure provides flexibility in procuring these potentially complex contracts. The RFP was issued following this statute that allows the award to be made to the "best overall" proposal. Thirteen potential vendors were sent the RFP and it was advertised in the Durham Herald and on the County web site. Three vendors responded. The departments and Purchasing met extensively with each of the three responding vendors. The vendors' responses and functional demonstrations were evaluated against the functional requirements. On the basis of the analysis of the responses, the departments of Tax Assessor, Revenue and Information Technologies are recommending the County pursue a solution which uses Patriot Systems of Boston, Massachusetts, AssessPro software, and the NCACC's (North Carolina Association of County Commissioners) North Carolina Property Tax System product, proposed and administered by IIS (Intelligent Information Systems) of Durham, North Carolina. These two software applications together represent a solution that is the lowest risk, most cost- effective and highest benefit among the various responses received and best overall solution for Orange County. The Information Technology Advisory Committee has also endorsed this selection and will continue to be involved in PIMS project discussions. Because of the broad scope, cost and complexity of implementing a new Land Records and Taxation system, the departments of the Tax Assessor, Revenue, Purchasing and Information Technologies requested and were granted approval on December 11, 2007 to begin detailed contractual negotiations with the two vendors. The sponsoring departments requested to contract with a dedicated project manager and a legal consultant specializing in technology contracts. The project manager's role was to track the myriad project details and coordinate resources and schedules while utilizing project management principles used in previous IT projects including the Munis project. The BOCC approved contracting with the outside project management company known as Barry Strock Consulting Associates on January 22, 2009. The consultant immediately began the tasks as outlined above and has produced detailed contracts which cover all legal responsibilities between the County and the vendors, with particular emphasis on collaborative mandates between the two vendors themselves. The County Attorney's Office is currently reviewing/finalizing these contracts to begin the actual conversion of data and implementation of the Property Information Management System. 3 The contracts are as follows: Patriot Systems Contract Patriot Systems will be developing the PIN (Parcel Identification Number) application in compliance with the Orange County PIN Ordinance and will provide the computer assisted mass appraisal software to be utilized by the Assessor's Office to track and analyzing sales data, list real property in the field, develop schedules of value, and apply these schedules in revaluation years. The Patriot contract totals $503,050. IIS Contract IIS will provide implementation, customization, training, integration and support services for the North Carolina Property Tax System (NCPTS) Billing and Collections application. IIS is the exclusive vendor for providing these services for NCPTS licensed by the NCACC The IIS contract totals $875,975. NCACC Contract The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners licenses the NCPTS application to counties within the state. While there is no licensing fee, the contract provides the specific licensing framework as well as documenting NCACC's contractual relationship with IIS. Barry Strock Consulting Associates Barry Strock Consulting Associates will serve as key consulting partners in the PIMS project. The firm's expertise in vendor management, and experience with the specific vendors the County is working with will ensure the prompt identification and early resolution of interface issues. In addition, its high level project management services (Phase III of the contract of which the Board authorized signing on January 22, 2009) will provide oversight necessary for meeting quality and schedule milestones. Exercising Phase III of the standing signed contract with Barry Strock Consulting Associates is not to exceed $54,480 Visser Management Consultant Services The project stakeholders believe Rod Visser of Visser Management Consultant Services is uniquely qualified for providing day to day project management oversight of the PIMS project. Mr. Visser has extensive understanding of the Orange County tax system, personnel, and PIN Ordinance requirements. Mr. Visser also has extensive understanding of North Carolina property tax law and understands the ultimate goal the County is working to attain. With IT's Business Analyst on extended maternity leave during critical phases of the project, this need is all the more acute. Mr. Visser will provide day to day project management services not to exceed $75,000 The BOCC has previously approved an initial procurement of $1.5 million dollars on a projected total project cost of $2.5 million. Total costs related to all contracts equals a maximum of $1,508,505 to be paid based on completed deliverables over two fiscal years. Remaining costs associated with the PIMS project include: Transitional Staffing Transitional staffing costs include staff overtime payments, payment of temporary employees and contracted retirees, and other possible contractual staffing. Since PIMS implementation and training must occur and since at the same time normal day-to-day activities associated with taxation and collection duties must also occur, some staff will have to work limited overtime. There will be the need to incorporate others to handle the day-to-day responsibilities while staff is involved in implementing and/or training. Former and retired personnel will need to be involved to fill staffing gaps and to supply critical knowledge and expertise. The FY2009 - 2010 costs associated with overtime and temporary employment has been budgeted in each departments' approved budgets. Contractual expenses associated with bringing back critically needed retirees, and possibly others on contract, are projected to cost a maximum of $250,000 through project completion as of December 2010. Software Customization Software customization is always a requirement when working with third party software for use in environments with unique statutory requirements. For example, customization will be required to allow the County to readily configure the billing and collection systems to allow for existing (and future) fees (like 3R and storm water fees) without incurring additional costs. These types of project enhancements are projected to cost no more than $300,000. Hardware Purchases Finally, with new software and with improved capabilities, there will be additional hardware acquired through state contract or government service agreements. Hardware will include items such as servers, field approved tough books (especially tough laptops) for listing of real estate in the field, larger monitors, and scanners. This expense is not expected to exceed $75,000. The total PIMS project currently shows to be on target not to exceed the maximum approved budget of $2.5 million. Staff has worked with the towns and with another agenda item on tonight's meeting presented the Addendum to the current Inter-local Agreement which will address the Towns contributing toward the cost of acquisition of the billing and collection software portion of the system. The percentage of participation is equivalent to the number of billings currently handled by Orange County on behalf of each jurisdiction. Additionally, the towns have agreed to a cost percentage associated with the yearly maintenance fee for the continued support of the billing and collection software. The same percentage will apply to the yearly cost, as does the percentage for acquisition of the software. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The total cost of these contracts is not to exceed $1,508,505. Current known costs have been identified through this contract process to be $875,975 for the services of IIS in conjunction with the NCPTS acquisition for billing and collections. The cost for services with Patriot Systems for the Land Records PIN System and the AssessPro Project is currently $503,050. The Project Management contract for the services outlined above for Visser Project Management Associates is not to exceed $75,000 The Project Management contract for services outlined above for Barry Strock Consulting Associates is not to exceed $54,480. The contract for the NCACC is required to proceed with the implementation of the NCPTS software and has no direct associated cost. The monies for software vendor contracts will be paid in increments as milestones are reached which are clearly defined within each contract. The project management contracts will be paid as stipulated through the contracts with the approval of the Core Team members. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager requests the Board of County Commissioners: 1) Authorize the County Attorney to develop/finalize the appropriate documents and contracts for implementing the Property Information Management System (PIMS) software including: • two contracts for the software vendors (Patriot Systems and IIS) • one for the licensing agency for the Billing and Collections component (NCACC) and • two for the project management consulting firms (Barry Strock Consulting Associates and Visser Project Management Associates); 2) Authorize the Chair to sign all documents and contracts as developed by the County Attorney; 3) Authorize the County Manager to approve and sign contracts for transitional assistance with contract or temporary employees not to exceed $250,000; 4) Authorize the County Manager to approve and sign contracts for additional customizations to the software not to exceed $300,000; and 5) Authorize the County Manager to approve and sign future contracts for PIMS related hardware purchases not to exceed $75,000.