TOPSHAM
Topsham is upgrading its software system for financial services, a process that’s expected to cost more than $200,000 for the town of fewer than 9,000 residents.
Selectmen voted Thursday to enter a contract with Munis, a product of Tyler Technologies, a Texas-based software tech firm that works with municipal and state governments and other public entities across the country. The town went out to bid for new software in the spring, but didn’t get a field a lot of interest, according to Town Manager Rich Roedner.
“We went out to bid. We contacted a couple software companies, and we received one bid,” said Roedner. “It seems to be regional. They don’t seem to go out of their areas.”
Despite the lack of options, Roedner said the fact that Tyler has an office in Yarmouth and can provide the services the town needs, makes him confident the new system will work out. The company has experience transferring information from previous providers to their systems, which will be a 20-month process of transferring financial services, payroll and human resources, and tax billing and collection data.
Selectmen opted to go with a cloud-based program, as opposed to an in-house program. The cloud solution will cost about $204,000 up front, compared to $234,000 for the in-house server. Cloud technology carries $50,000 in annual costs compared to about $30,000 annually for a town server.
At May’s town meeting, voters approved up to $220,000 to cover the intial costs of a software switch.
The two options differed in price, but not in security. Security was key to town officials, as Topsham suffered a ransomware attack in the fall of 2017. The attack was stopped in the process, and the system was able to be restored without losing vital information.
Roedner said he expects Tyler to be responsive to the town’s questions and problems. He said the company behind the previous software, TRIO, was located in Maine but has since moved, and become harder to contact. The town had issues with the provider, including an incident in which the wrong year’s tax data was installed for the first payroll period in 2017.
Lisbon has recently had trouble installing a more expansive package by Munis, paying for a $4,400 outside assessment to be done on the progress of the in-house installation. The town is currently awaiting the results of that assessment. Roedner said he isn’t concerned about the potential of Topsham running into similar issues, as the work will be done by the company.
“You pay for the service,” he said. “But, the implementation will be taken care of.”
Selectmen opted to move to the cloud-based server, as it didn’t provide any extra safety risks, and potentially moved the town away from purchasing new hardware.
chris@timesrecord.com
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