REPORT TO SHASTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

BOARD MEETING DATE:  December  12, 2017
CATEGORY:  Consent - General Government-3.

SUBJECT:

Agreement with Tyler Technologies, Inc.

Supervisorial District No. :  All

DEPARTMENT CONTACT:  Leslie Morgan, Assessor-Recorder, (530) 225-3600

STAFF REPORT APPROVED BY:  Leslie Morgan, Assessor-Recorder

RECOMMENDATION

Take the following actions: (1) Approve and authorize the Chairman to sign an evergreen agreement, effective upon date of signing of last party, for software license, implementation, support and maintenance of a new Recorder/Clerk, Recording, Vital Records, and Cashiering System with Tyler Technologies, Inc., including a one-time conversion and license cost in the amount of $322,034 ($35,119 of this is invoiced on the effective date), up to $15,000 for travel expenses, and recurring fees for Year 1 maintenance and support in the amount of $52,096 with the Maintenance and Support contract renewing annually for five years with increases not to exceed five percent per year, then renewing annually thereafter with unspecified increases; and (2) approve a budget amendment increasing appropriations and revenue by $40,000 in the Recorder’s budget to cover some associated costs.

SUMMARY

The Recorder is required to archive and index documents and vital records for availability to the public. As technology progresses, the needs of the public to access the records with modern search capabilities and to interact with the department in more modernized methods are essential. In addition, the collection, distribution, and reporting features needed has expanded. Tyler Technologies Eagle System will replace the DFM Associates RiiMS system. The Clerk functions currently on RiiMS and will also move to the Tyler system; however, the Elections system will remain with DFM Associates EIMS in a separate contract as DFM has a more specialized system related to Elections.

DISCUSSION

The current recording/clerk/cashiering system is nearly 20 years old and needs to be replaced with a modern solution that will provide greater stability, increased efficiencies and modern services to customers. The County Assessor-Recorder has investigated all possible replacement systems and has determined that Tyler Technologies offers a contemporary system that best meets the needs of the offices.

Tyler participated in the competitive bid process in response to NJPA’s RFP #110515 by submitting a proposal, on which NJPA awarded Tyler an NJPA contract, numbered 110515-TTI (hereinafter, the “NJPA Contract”). The County's recording/clerk/cashiering system requires vendor maintenance each year. This Services Agreement included covers five years of maintenance with a limitation of five percent annual increases. The maintenance agreement mandates performance of maintenance and support obligations in a professional, good, and workmanlike manner, consistent with industry standards, and to resolve any defects in the current Tyler Software. Support also includes telephone support, system updates, general system support, and modifications required for compliance with federal and State of California legislative changes.

The current system used by the Recorder and Clerk offices is RiiMS which is owned by DFM Associates. Although DFM has 38 counties in three states on their Elections system, EIMS, they only have ten RiiMS counties within California. Because of the specialization and demanding needs within Elections, the Recording system has not kept up with the growing needs of the Recorder, which includes providing information and services to the public. Tyler Technologies Eagle Recorder is a complete software solution which is continually improving the system for Recorder’s offices. Eagle Recorder is currently in 13 California counties and growing. Nationally Tyler has recording products in 388 counties.

Payments will be made to Tyler for the software license fees on the following schedule: (a) 20% on the Effective Date (date of signing by last party); (b) 65% on the date when the applicable Tyler Software is available for downloading; and (c) 15% on the earlier of use of the Tyler Software in live production or 180 days after the Available Download Date. Payments for the maintenance and support fees are as follows: Year 1 maintenance and support fees are waived through the earlier of (a) availability of the Tyler Software for use in a live production environment; or (b) one (1) year from the Effective Date. Year 2 maintenance and support fees are payable on that earlier-of date and shall be prorated (i) for the period through July 1, 2018 if Year 2 begins prior to July 1, 2018, or (ii) for the period through July 1, 2019 if Year 2 commences after July 1, 2018. Subsequent maintenance and support fees shall then be invoiced annually in advance of July 1st each year thereafter.

ALTERNATIVES

The Board could reject the contract leaving the Recorder and Clerk on the current system. The two departments would continue to provide essential services without the ability to modernize.

OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT

County Counsel has reviewed the agreement as to form. Risk Management has approved the agreement. The Chief Information Officer reviewed the agreement. The County Administrative Office has reviewed the recommendation.

FINANCING

Costs associated with the License and Services Agreement are included in the Recorder and County Clerk’s Adopted Budgets for FY 2017-18. There is no additional General Fund impact.

The Recorder collects a number of fees set in code to support the areas of modernization, vital records, micrographics, electronic recording and redaction. Many of these restricted funds are being used to support the costs associated with the implementation and support of the Tyler system. The budget amendment is needed as the project did not begin as soon as anticipated, creating some savings in FY 2016-17 that can be utilized in FY 2017-18.