M.D. shells out for new financial software

By Heather Cameron
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

During the M.D. of Taber Council meeting that took place on October 22, Director of Corporate Services Mike Passey spoke to Council about a Request for Decision regarding financial software.

The Request for Decision states that the Municipal District of Taber’s financial system is reaching its end of life, as it has been in use since at least 1997 but will be inaccessible after December 31, 2025, and a new software needs to be implemented prior to that date. According to the memo, the budget for the project includes implementation, first year’s licensing costs, additional years of data conversion, flexibility for reconfiguration of GL chart of accounts, and five per cent contingency. 

The memo also shared Administration’s recommendation, which is that Council direct Administration to proceed with awarding the RFP for Municipal Financial Software to Endeavour Solutions and set the project budget at $526,000, funded from the Major Projects Reserve.

The project total, Passey stated, comes out to around $526,000.

“It’s a hefty project, it’s an expensive project, but it’s one that sets up the organization for maintaining the financial systems,” said Passey.

Reeve Tamara Miyanaga determined that as far as maintenance and upkeep goes for the project, the M.D. of Taber is looking at a maintenance and upkeep cost of approximately $80,000 while the remainder of the $526,000 includes the purchase of the software, the migration of data, the implementation of the system into the M.D.’s, and the first-year license.

Council inquired about the expected life of the software and Passey responded that the previous software had a life of 25 to 30 years and is hopeful that the new software will have a similar lifespan, but it depends on what the provider says. Council also wanted to know if there would be any efficiencies that will be gained by the adoption of new software as far as staff is concerned and if there would be front-facing changes that the public will be noticing with regard to invoices, statements, payments, receipts, and the like.

“We do anticipate some operational efficiencies as far as staff submitting invoices for approval purchase orders being submitted electronically rather than through paper means and then those approvals being managed through the system by the various levels of authority to approve them um and then it would just move to the next step in the chain of the system in the process and reduce some of the time and supplies that are currently being used,” said Passey. “As far public facing, there will be a citizen portal that citizens can access as long as they sign up for it. They can sign up and receive their utility bills, tax bills, and make payments from that platform and also get e-bills as well.”

Ultimately, a motion was made for Council to direct Administration to proceed with awarding the RFP the RFP for Municipal Financial Software to Endeavour Solutions and set the project budget at $526,000, funded from the Major Projects Reserve and the motion was carried.