EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: October 18, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Patrick Heisinger, Interim City Manager
BY: Greg Henry, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT: Citywide Technology Projects Status Update
Recommendation
Receive and file the status update on Citywide technology projects.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
Priority No. 3: Increase Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency Priority No. 5: Improve Communication and Enhance Community Engagement Background
The City Council has authorized implementation projects for three major updates to the City systems.
· On June 7, 2022 the City Council authorized an agreement with HdL to implement and manage the City’s Business License Tax program.
· On May 3, 2022 the City Council authorized an agreement with Granicus to convert our current agenda management software from IQM2 to the Peak Agenda Management suite.
· On October 5, 2021 the City Council authorized an agreement with Caselle to transition to their Enterprise Resource Program (ERP) solution, an update to our current financial system.
The item represents an update to the status of these projects.
Analysis
Business License Tax Administration Services
The transaction to HdL taking over management of tax administration is still scheduled for October 24, 2022.
On the 24th, the City’s webpage, <https://www.ci.east-palo-alto.ca.us/finance/page/businesslicense>, will transition to the HdL managed site and all calls to the City with questions on Business License, will be transferred to HdL.
In mid-November HdL will begin the renewal process with an email to all businesses. The email will notify businesses about the need to renew, inform them about the transition to HdL as the administrator and provide the new website and phone number for those businesses to process their renewals.
The last week in November, HdL will mail out notices to all businesses with the same information.
Transitioning tax administration will have significant benefits to businesses with improved online capabilities and payment options. Further, the transition will save significant staff time, allowing the implementation of the ERP system to accelerate.
Agenda Management Software
Staff have made significant progress on the transition to Peak Agenda. While this update will have a more minor impact, there will be measurable improvements to the agenda management process. Staff have completed the initial development, however, there remain significant steps before the transition can occur. Staff are completing the structure of the agenda in the new software and primary staff (City Clerk and City Attorney’s staff) are beginning training.
Staff are expecting to use the period between the second meeting in December and the first meeting in January to transition to the new software.
Enterprise Resource Program
Staff continue to make incremental progress on this update. Most of the work is happening on Caselle’s side. Staff continue to provide data updates, and the initial setup of the City’s financial data is almost complete. So far, the impact on staff time has been less than expected.
The next step will include:
· Finalizing personal data and developing the payroll codes. · Developing the customization for processes, such as invoice, purchase order and timesheet approval.
· Staff training.
Once training begins, staff time commitment to the new software will significantly increase, particularly in the Finance Department.
However, staff will feel the impact of the new software impact Citywide. Many of the changes will simply be improvements. For example, the conversion of timesheet approval to a digital workflow, currently mostly manual and laborious, will give managers greater insight and reducing staff time.
However, other updates, while clearly improvements, will not be strict reductions in staff time associated with the activity. For example, the processes for purchase order and invoice approval will provide managers and directors budget insight never seen, but will also require more knowledge and control by managers and directors over their budgets. Training for the new system will require more than just the mechanical training of learning the system, but also structural training for their extra responsibilities.
The full transition to the new software is most likely for July 2023 to coincide with the Fiscal Year start.
Fiscal Impact
This update has no fiscal impact.
Public Notice
The public was provided notice of this agenda item by posting the City Council agenda on the City’s official bulletin board outside City Hall and making the agenda and report available at the City’s website and at the San Mateo Co. Library located at 2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto.
Environmental
The action being considered does not constitute a “Project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378 (b)(5), in that it is a government administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.