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HomeMy WebLinkAbout13B 2018 Budget and Capital Equipment Acquisition To: Mayor and City Council Members Charlene Stevens, City Administrator From: Robin Roland, Finance Director Date: November 9, 2017 Subject: Permitting software discussion Introduction & Discussion Attached with this memo is an outline of our current building permit and licensing software system and potential upgraded system with an analysis of costs. This system upgrade was not included in the 2018 Budget discussion. However, as part of our strategic plan, staff has been reviewing processes and systems and has arrived at determination point where we believe the City Council should weigh in on our next move. The outline presents the potential efficiencies to be gained from a new software product along with some of the cost considerations. Timing of the potential project and financial options will be discussed as part of consideration of the proposal. Brian Bluhm has been heading up this process and will be available for questions at our workshop. Permitting and Land Management Proposal Community Development The Community Development department is responsible for the overall land management, zoning, building and planning for the City of Cottage Grove. In order to efficiently perform these job functions, certain planning software is utilized for planning, permitting, mapping, licensing and code enforcement. As the City grows, it has become increasingly important for careful, efficient planning and to engage with residents and businesses. Reducing inefficiencies in current processes and making it easier for residents and businesses to engage with city staff is a strategic goal of all departments. As technology changes, so does the process of doing business. Cities around the country have been utilizing online tools to better communicate with business and residents. Online tools have also changed work flows to a more efficient model by reducing time, paperwork and the need for increased staffing. Cottage Grove’s current processes and software have been found to be inefficient and do not allow for an online presence. After researching other processes and software utilized by other cities, it was determined by staff that migration to a new solution would be advantageous. Current Process The Cottage Grove Community Development department utilizes a specialized software product called PermitWorks to manage the city permitting process. These processes include Permitting, Animal/Business Licensing and Code Enforcement. All current processes begin with manual data entry from printed paperwork. This is a brief breakdown of those processes. Permitting, Plan Submittal, Inspections The permit process and inspection process is the same for most permits. Contractors and residents apply for permits at City Hall or by printing off the application and submitting it to City Hall. Once received, the permit application is reviewed and the applicant comes back to City Hall to pay and receive their permit. Throughout this process the Permit Tech enters all information into PermitWorks for processing. The following process breaks down these steps. Licensing The current licensing process utilizes PermitWorks along with a supportive Microsoft Access database. There are various forms of licensing but they essentially fall under two categories - Animal and Business. Animal Licensing Residents apply for animal license at City Hall by filling out an application with Public Safety and paying a fee. Licenses are good for 1 year. After the application and payment is received, the resident is issued a tag for the animal. Business Licensing Business licensing requires the applicant to print out applications and submit them to City Hall along with required documents and payment. After all documents have been manually entered, a license is issued to the applicant. Business licenses sometimes require additional information such as Applicant Name, Business Owner, etc. that PermitWorks is unable to store. Instead, this information is kept in an Access database and linked to the current PermitWorks database. Code Enforcement Enforcement consists of rental licensing and overall city ordinance enforcement. Most enforcement cases are generated through reports from residents or city employees. Once the enforcement case is entered into PermitWorks, it is followed up and resolved by the city Code Enforcement officer along with assistance from Building Inspectors and Public Safety as needed. Proposed Process Change In order to provide better connectivity with businesses and residents, staff has been looking at advancing our current system. It was determined that the current software, PermitWorks, did not satisfy the current and future demands of the Community Development department. Staff looked at multiple other software products. Out of these systems, two met all or most of the requirements Tyler EnerGov and CitizenServe. Requirement outline Online presence – application, submittal, review, payment, scheduling rd Data integration – Ties into existing 3 party systems User-friendly Future expandability Mobile Mapping It was determined that EnerGov from Tyler Technologies was the most robust system that met all requirements including future expansion. Cottage Grove currently uses the Tyler Finance System so back office integration is automatic. New Process Permitting, Plan Submittal, Inspections EnerGov systems has a full online presence. Contractors and residents can apply for permits, schedule inspections and look at status updates without calling or coming to City Hall. Example – Contractor fills out a permit application online and submits it along with uploaded documents. Permit is automatically tied to the entered property and submitted to workflow. Once the Permit Tech, Planners, etc. review the plans and approve, the contractor is notified their permit is ready. The contractor logs into EnerGov, makes payment and prints out their permit. Once the contractor is ready for inspection they simply log into the system and schedule online. For permits not needing approval such as roofs, the customer is taken to the payment page and once payment is submitted the permit can be printed. Licensing All licensing would take place online. Businesses can submit their license application, upload documents and sign forms online. Once the application is approved they are sent an email for payments. Automatic license renewals are generated when licenses are expired and the process continues. Code Enforcement When a resident reports a property for a code enforcement violation, they are given the opportunity to upload photos or documents for review. Once the property is reported on, updates on the status of the property are available online so duplicate information is limited. Mapping A new feature for Cottage Grove is the online mapping. Residents and businesses will have the ability to search their property for permits, violations, etc. Items like “dangerous dog” can also be pinned to a property for Public Safety purposes. Budgetary Items This proposal is not currently a budgeted item. Below are the cost breakdowns: Solution Year 1 Year 2 Energov OnPremise $ 211,903 $ 26,430 The first year costs consist of the following: Licensing – users, server, application Integration – Building integration with current systems like mapping and document imaging Data Migration – Migrating data from PermitWorks Training Installation Subsequent year costs are support and upgrade costs. Current Expenses PermitWorks annual cost is $12,000, not including additional support for report customization. In order to move to an online presence with PermitWorks, cost would increase to an approximate annual of $16,000 plus development costs. Development costs for partial online permit submittal (non-approval permits) were approximated by two vendors to be a one-time cost of $15,000-$20,000. Additional development of online functionality for plan submissions, licensing, code enforcement and mapping would be a separate cost for each item in PermitWorks.