PARKERSBURG -Members of city council will consider spending almost $150,000 for software updates and upgrades for the Finance Department tonight.
Council will consider a resolution authorizing Mayor Bob Newell to enter into an agreement for the financing of accounting software, equipment and maintenance for $149,615.
City Finance Director Doug Life said the near-$150,000 price tag is all inclusive.
"The price includes software, installation, training, the transfer of our files into the system, maintenance and equipment," he said.
Life said the software will streamline billing for the city's user fee, B&O and utility fees (police, fire sanitation and floodwall).
"The idea is to get it all tied together," he said.
Life said maintenance of the system is covered for four years, after which the city will pay maintenance on an annual basis. He did not have a specific cost of the annual maintenance. Maintenance for a normal, large piece of software is about $25,000, and Life thinks the city's costs will be about half that.
"A lot of people complain about the cost of software, but they also complain they can't get their fingers on information very quickly," Newell said.
"It is a lot of money, but it is a lot of software," Life added.
The mayor also plans to update council on the city's finances as it begins the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Parkersburg is expected to be in better financial standing than projected, due in part to improved B&O collections, the recent implementation of the user fee and one-time payment by Camden Clark Medical Center to make up for the lost B&O from the merger with St. Joseph's Hospital.
Newell said city officials will not have figures from the 2010-11 fiscal year carryover until Aug. Newell noted the fiscal year ended June 30, but there is still a 30-day grace period to make payments.
"I can't even hazard a guess as to what it's going to be," he said.
