CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA

AGENDA BILL

AB 1105
April 4, 2016
Consent Calendar

TO:

Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

Chip Rerig, City Administrator

FROM:

Sharon Friedrichsen, Director of Budget and Contracts

SUBJECT:

Authorization of Agreement with Accela , Inc. for implementation of a financial system and
a hosting agreement for a five year term for an amount not to exceed $199,500

AMOUNT OF EXPENDITURE

$ 109,950 (Year 1)
$17,000 average annually

AMOUNT BUDGETED

$ 150,000 (Year 1)

APPROPRIATION REQUIRED

$0

RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Administrator to execute an agreement with Accela, Inc. for the
implementation of a financial system and hosting agreement for a five year term in an amount not to
exceed $199,500.
SUMMARY
City staff currently utilize the Multiple Operations Manager (MOM) system by Corbin Willetts for its
accounting and payroll functions. This system is outdated and does not meet the City's needs for a
more comprehensive and user-friendly finance system. As such, the replacement of the system with
one that provides improved functionality, analytics and reporting has been a long-standing goal of the
Council as part of its ongoing efforts to improve operational effectiveness, enhance decision-making
and provide additional transparency to the public.
In response to the desire to find a new financial system, staff issued a "Request for Proposals" for a
finance system with an optional payroll/human resources module that could be integrated with the
financial system. In particular, the system includes account receivables/payables , general ledger,
budgeting, project accounting, advanced purchasing, analytics and reporting, and payroll and human
resources modules, with the latter components being able to reduce manual entry of timesheets, allow
employee "self-selection" of benefits and provide other human resources-related tracking and analytics.
Two qualified vendors, Tyler Technologies and Accela, Inc., submitted proposals and were
subsequently invited to an interview and product demonstration session. The panel consisted of the
Interim City Administrator, City finance and IT managers, the City Clerk and a citizen representative
that has assisted the City with various projects and is cognizant of the limitations of the current finance
system. This latter viewpoint provided a resident perspective on public reporting needs.
Under both providers, the City is opting for a hosted, or cloud-based system, which means that the
finance system is housed by the company (or a third party working on behalf of the company) and staff
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access the system remotely. The use of a hosted system has several benefits including reduced City
costs for hardware/software and maintenance of a premise-based system; availability for staff to access
the system remotely; and regular updates and enhancements performed by the company that will keep
the system current and up to date.
Tyler Technologies provides a robust financial system with a high-level of security and extensive
recovery plan and received high remarks from client references about customer service. The firm is
known as a leading provider of finance systems for government clients and their system has many
advanced capabilities. On the other hand, Accela also has a long history of serving government clients
similar to Carmel and provides a competitively-priced finance system that will meet the City's needs.
The company also offers the opportunity for longer-term integration of its other modules pertaining to
legislative management, land use and a citizen relationship management under its civic platform.
While the City would be well-served under either system, the recommendation was largely influenced
by cost, including both the short-term initial costs of implementation and the long-term costs of an
annual subscription, particularly over an extended horizon. Other factors such as number of users,
annual subscription fee increases and length of the agreement were also considered .
As a result of this analysis, staff is recommending that the City enter into an agreement with Accela.
While the initial one-time costs for implementation are comparable, there is a significant difference in
price depending on the length of a proposed agreement. Should the City enter into a five year
agreement, the price difference between the two firms is about $62,000. However, due to an annual
adjustment factor of five percent over the base subscription fee for Accela offset by a discounted rate
for a long term contract with Tyler, the base difference in costs between the two companies narrows to
$4,600 over a ten year term. Under either scenario, Accela is still the lowest proposer.
The one-time cost for data conversion, implementation, training and project management is estimated
at $72,250, which includes 562 hours of data conversion, implementation and training assistance, with
an additional $15,000 for reimbursable travel costs based upon actual costs incurred. It is also
recommended that ten percent, or $7,225, be allocated for project contingencies. The first year of the
subscription fee is $15,476, resulting in an estimated project cost of $109,500. The Fiscal Year 201516 adopted budget includes $150,000 for a finance system within the Vehicle and Equipment Fund.
While the annual subscription fee will be included within each subsequent year of the operating budget
and paid to the vendor on an annual basis, it is recommended that Council approve a five year
agreement with Accela, Inc. as the cumulative annual payments would exceed $24,999 and require
Council authorization in accordance with Municipal Code 3.12.230. The five year cost is estimated at
$90,000 or an average of $18,000 a year. (In comparison, the current annual cost of MOM is $8,600.)

PRIOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION

Council included funding for a new system within the FY 15-16 budget, adopted on 15 June 2015.

ATTACHMENTS
1. Resolution

Date:

Chip Rerig, City Administrator

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CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. 2016 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH
ACCELA, INC. FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF A FINANCIAL SYSTEM AND A HOSTING
AGREEMENT FOR A FIVE YEAR TERM FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $199,500
WHEREAS, the accounting system used by the City is outdated and the City desires a
more robust finance, purchasing and payroll/ HR system; and,
WHEREAS, a system upgrade was identified within the City's 2013-2017 Information
Technology Strategic Plan and the 2014-2019 Five Year Capital Improvement Plan and funding
of $150,00 was included within the 2FY2015-16 adopted budget; and
WHEREAS, the City issued a request for proposals for a finance system and published
the notice inviting bids in the Monterey Herald on December 3 and 9, 2015, in accordance with
Municipal Code 3.12 .340, and received two proposals in response to this solicitation; and
WHEREAS, the City has selected Accela, Inc. to be the cloud-based system provider
and proposes to enter into an agreement with Accela for a one-time implementation cost of
$87,250, plus the first year of the subscription fee costing $15,476.
WHEREAS, staff recommends the City Administrator be authorized to execute change
orders due to unexpected software anomalies that may arise during implementation; and
WHEREAS , the City wishes to utilize the new financial system for a minimum of five
years and anticipates the cost over five years to be approximately $90,000; and
WHEREAS, Municipal Code 3.12.320 require contracts of $25,000 or more to be
approved by Council resolution.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA DOES :
1. Authorize the City Administrator to execute an agreement with Accela, Inc. for
implementation and hosting fees for an amount not to exceed $102,726 (plus sales tax).
2. Authorize the City Administrator to execute change orders for implementation in a not to
exceed amount of $7,225.
3. Authorize the City Administrator to execute a hosting agreement with Accela, Inc. for an
initial term of five years for an amount of approximately $90,000 (plus sales tax) .
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BYTHE-SEA this 41h day of April, 2016, by the following roll call vote:
AYES:

COUNCIL MEMBERS:

NOES:

COUNCIL MEMBERS:

ABSENT:

COUNCIL MEMBERS

75

SIGNED:

ATTEST:

Jason Burnett, Mayor

Ashlee Wright
City Clerk

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