Agenda Item
City Council
Item #: 3.7. 4/12/2022 File #: 22-0220
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THRU: Rob Houston, City Manager
FROM: Will Kolbow, Assistant City Manager/Administrative Services Director
1. SUBJECT
Agreement with N. Harris Computer Corporation for the support and maintenance of current software used with the Utility Billing and Water divisions’ mobile work order system.
2. SUMMARY
The Finance Department's Utility Billing Division has contracted with N. Harris Computer Corporation for over 15 years. They have proven to meet the City's needs. Staff recommends approving a new five-year maintenance agreement from April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2027 to continue contracting with this provider.
3. RECOMMENDED ACTION
Approve the five-year agreement with N. Harris Computer Corporation in the amount of $508,914 for Utility Billing Software maintenance; and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute on behalf of the City.
4. FISCAL IMPACT
The total expenditure for the five-year agreement is $508,914, with the first year’sexpenditure total being $95,856, and will be funded through Water Fund (600).
5. STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Goal 2: Be a fiscally healthy community
a: Expend fiscal resources responsibly.
b: Effectively manage and develop City assets.
6. DISCUSSION AND BACKGROUND
During the last fifteen years, the City's Utility Billing Division has contracted with N. Harris Computer Corporation (Harris) for all utility billing applications, including the purchase of a major upgrade to their software five years ago. They have provided a quality utility billing software program that has met the needs of our customers and City staff. We have integrated this program with the Water Field Crew's handheld meter reading devices.
In September of 2016, Council approved the purchase of an upgrade from Public Utility Billing Software (PUBS) to Northstar 6.4.10. Included in the upgrade was Harris' Automation Platform which assisted in streamlining daily processes. It is designed to run daily processes such as posting payments or uploading reads. It performs tasks based on a criteria of events, which reduced the City of Orange Printed on 4/7/2022Page 1 of 2
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Item #: 3.7. 4/12/2022 File #: 22-0220
payments or uploading reads. It performs tasks based on a criteria of events, which reduced the amount of manual labor involved and ensured more accuracy with the data and processes. The Automation Platform assisted in freeing up resources that enabled staff to provide better customer service and increased productivity. In addition, the updated version of the report writer was embedded in the program and provided more ease in querying data and creating reports.
The upgrade included moving to a new server with Structured Query Language (SQL), which is a widely used language for software. Many other software platforms throughout the City are SQL- based, which allowed us to leverage our SQL Enterprise licensing, saving on database maintenance costs.
Finally, Harris has partner companies that are integrated with the current software that provide extra services. We currently have a website and a phone system that provide our customers options to pay or view their utility bill. Harris also provides a work order system for our field crew to electronically create and complete work orders for services rendered including meter leaks, change-outs, water audits, turn-on, and turn-off requests.
7. ATTACHMENTS
· Professional Services Agreement
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