City Council
259 N. Wilma Avenue
Ripon, CA 95366
MEMO
To: Honorable City Council
From: Ken Zuidervaart, Planning Director
Date: 04/08/2025
Subject: Service Agreement - Open Gov building permit software RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff is recommending the City Council (1) approve and authorize the Mayor to execute the Master Services Agreement with OpenGov Inc. for a term of 2 years, 3 months in the amount of $119,180.55 and (2) direct staff to implement a technology maintenance and program recovery fee that will be added to all building permits.
BACKGROUND:
In a continual effort to enhance customer service and improve efficiency in the Building Department staff has been exploring options to streamline the City’s permitting and workflow processes. With limited staff resources, leveraging technology to improve business practices is a critical path for the success of the City. Currently, the City employs a very antiquated process utilizing an old Microsoft excel program designed years ago to track projects and process permits. Various vendors gave City staff software demonstrations over the last year, demonstrating how their software can help streamline the City's current process of approving permits submitted to the Building Department.
DISCUSSION:
To effectuate the need to identify and implement means and methods for streamlining workflow and development review and permit approval processes, City staff received demonstrations from three vendors of cloud-based platforms, including OpenGov, Accela, and Iworq. Staff also solicited pricing proposals from all three vendors.
Following the software demonstrations to understand the functionality of each system, staff members convened to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each system. The following table is a summary of the platforms evaluated:
Platform One-time
Initialization Fee
Annual Fee 1 Notes
OpenGov $39,780 $33,432.80 + 5% annual increase Met all building department software objectives, plus lower up front cost
Accela $75,000 to
$125,000
$30,000.00 + 6.5% annual increase Met all building department software objectives, however larger up front cost
and higher annual inflator
Iworq $33,500 $20,000 (annual increases
unknown)
Did not meet building department
software objectives
1. Annual fee based on full year of service.
OpenGov’s Citizen Services Suite
Staff is recommending the City implements the OpenGov’s Citizen Services Suite. OpenGov is an all-in-one suite for permitting and inspections, and features a user-friendly constituent portal seamlessly integrated with backend data collection and approval rules. OpenGov delivers an allin-one cloud solution to streamline development review and permit approval processes from intake through issuance, which will lead to enhanced operations and workflow processes to enable the City to provide higher levels of customer service, while allowing staff to communicate, educate, and foster better engagement through interactive tools for businesses, developers, architects, contractors, constituents, and engineers.
Processing and Tracking Permits
The software will enhance the City’s customer service by opening up new customer service tools, which empowers applicants to conduct government business from the convenience of their home or office. The software will enable city staff to:
Manage all permitting and inspection operations
Use drag-and-drop technology to build workflows, fees, forms, and inspections, and have complete control over the entire process
Process, approve, and issue permits electronically
Enable applicants to apply, pay for, track, and receive their permits online Manage schedules, access data, and conduct inspections in the field Automated Workflows
OpenGov enables real-time automation for permitting and inspection workflows. Applicants complete forms on an easy-to-use public interface, which are then routed in alignment with predetermined approval procedures based on the application type and project information. For optimal efficiency, this software will allow streamlining complex projects with multidepartmental approvals in order to achieve maximum efficiency.
This automated process will enable the City to provide a complete self-service option for applicants, eliminate the need for manual data entry and thereby allow for reallocation of staff hours to higher priority tasks, and improve processing times with workflow automation features, such as parallel approval steps and auto-assigned tasks.
Customer Support
The City will have access to 24/7 resource center support and live business day support from the initial launch of the software and beyond. OpenGov’s customer support is staffed by professionals with many years of public sector experience who can advise on best practices and process efficiencies. The scope of services provided includes migrating all the City’s existing permit information into the new system, completely setting up the permitting system including forms, etc. and training City Staff.
Implementation
If approved, it is estimated that training for City staff on the use and functionality of the software will begin later this month, with full design of the online permitting functions and system implementation for public use is expected within eight months. The training period will allow sufficient time for all City staff to be fully trained on the new system, to iron out the complexities of the implementation and changes to procedures, and ensure a successful deployment with the ease of public use being of highest priority.
Conclusion
The Master Services Agreement contract term is proposed to be for 2 years and 3 months in order for renewals to be lined up with the City’s fiscal year. In addition, the first year includes professional services for setup, implementation and training. The proposed costs are as follows:
Fiscal Year Professional Services Software Licensing Total 2024-2025 $39,780.00 $8,358.20 $48,138.20
2025-2026 $34,723.83 $34,723.83
2026-2027 $36,318.52 $36,318.52
Total $39,780.00 $79,400.55 $119,180.55
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Master Services Agreement and related order form and statement of work (SOW), and authorize the Mayor to execute the Agreement on behalf of the City. The SOW contains certain workflows that will be setup by OpenGov, while also training staff to setup additional workflows.
The one-time cost to setup the software and complete the staff training is included in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget. In order to fund the software licensing annual fee, staff is proposing a technology maintenance and program recovery fee to cover the annual software licensing fee.
This fee would be added to all building permits processed by the Building Department.
On average, the City issues 550 building permits annually for such improvements as water heater replacement, roof replacement, subdivision improvements, home additions, etc. For the City to recover the total software licensing fee, the technology maintenance and program recovery fee would be established at $65 per permit and indexed annually at 5 percent in line with the Master Services Agreement annual increases.
If the City Council agrees with this proposal to recover the annual software licensing fee, staff will draft an update to Chapter 17.16 (Real Property Development Fees) establishing a Building Department Fee Schedule, which will include the above mentioned fee.
Staff is recommending the City Council (1) approve and authorize the Mayor to execute the Master Services Agreement with OpenGov Inc. for a term of 2 years, 3 months in the amount of $119,180.55 and (2) direct staff to implement a technology maintenance and program recovery fee that will be added to all building permits.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The 2024-25 budget approved $40,000 from the Department Capital fund for the acquisition of Building Permitting software, which should cover the initial implementation and training.
Staff is proposing a technology maintenance and program recovery fee to cover the yearly software licensing (subscription) fee. The alternative to this proposal is the annual licensing fee would be funded by the General Fund.
Attachments:
1. Order Form and Master Services Agreement
2. OpenGov Statement of Work