For Utilities Commission Meeting [April 16, 2019]
TO: Honorable Chairperson and Commission
APPROVAL: Thomas J. Crowley, P.E., Utilities Manager
FROM: Aaron Kraft, General Manager, Veolia
Title
Recommend City Council/Rialto Utility Authority Approval of a Final Construction Work Authorization in the Amount of $825,000 for the Customer Information System Replacement and Data Transfer and Conversion Services.
(ACTION)
Body
BACKGROUND:
Rialto Water Services is currently utilizing Tyler Technology’s Incode Version 9 for utility billing. Incode is financial software that originated in 1999 and utilizes old COBOL programming language. The utility billing component of the software is a small portion or plug-in module of the larger Financial Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Although this system is capable of billing customers for the water and wastewater services they use, it offers little to no customer data management functionality.
The latest version of Incode is Version 10 and it overlaps the utility billing function with another Tyler Technology product, “Munis Utility Billing CIS.” With this overlap of functionality and the age of the software, staff anticipates Tyler Technology to discontinue support services for the version of Incode currently utilized by the City and Rialto Water Services (RWS) in the very near future.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Due to the restraints in the utility billing software, staff has been researching Customer Information Systems (CIS) and the possibilities of acquiring a system for the utility operations. In terms of restraints, the following should be noted:
a) The City no longer uses Incode, except for some limited treasurer and animal licensing functions including payment of animal license fees.
b) Limited query capabilities making it difficult to effectively analyze data and trends.
c) Limited reports available. Many reports are predetermined by the software developer and not customizable to Rialto’s needs.
d) Many of the predetermined report formats will only provide reports in a PDF format and do not allow exporting information into other programs that would allow further analysis, such as Excel.
e) Limited usability to roll out new programs to be competitive with other utilities and fulfill state mandates. For example, water conservation programs targeting high users or studying usage trends.
f) CIS is web-based application and will allow for 24/7 accessibility to the data and as a web-based application offers a more stable platform with fewer interruptions and downtime for customers, the City and RWS/Veolia staff. Generally speaking, service interruptions would likely only occur would be in the case of Internet Service Provider (ISP) outage.
During development of this project, Veolia presented the concepts and issues to the monthly operations meetings, where it was discussed for over a year. Feedback was provided to Veolia by the City’s staff and consultants and incorporated into the final project by Veolia. The project was finalized by a selection team consisting of eight people which included Veolia’s National Customer Service Director, as well as people from their Customer Service, Information Technology and Business Analyst teams. The team initially selected thirteen potential providers based on research, experience and industry recommendations. Those providers were (in alphabetical order):
• Advanced Utility
• Asyst
• Cogdale
• Fathom
• InHance
• Itineris
• Meter Sense
• NorthStar
• Oracle
• Rostech
• Sprypoint
• Tyler Technologies
• Utility Trakr
Each potential provider was evaluated based on their ability to meet all of 115 established criteria. Among the 115 different criteria evaluated, were ability to export data, email/paperless bills, generate custom real-time reports and 24/7 technical support. Also included were: work order management, tiered rates, estimated billing, auto bill pay and installment billing management. Utility billing functions and the customer portal were deemed to be the two key criteria items for the evaluation. The final evaluation also incorporated cost and resulted in the following ranking of the top six firms (in order):
1. Advanced Utility
2. Northstar
3. Cogsdale
4. Itineris
5. Oracle
6. Fathom
Advanced Utility was found to be the best qualified and responsive provider with the product that best met the City’s needs. Comments from the evaluators on the product offered by Advanced Utility were:
• Very configurable,
• Ability to edit multiple accounts in one session, and
• Information displayed in an organized way.
The total Final Construction Work Authorization (FCWA) is a not to exceed amount of $825,000 which includes negotiated percentages as allowed in the Concession Agreement and a contingency for change orders if needed. This also includes $25,000 for technical assistance with the conversion and transfer of the data from the Incode system to the CIS.
A copy of the proposed FCWA documents are included as Attachment 1.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Operating Budget Impact
Operating costs are not expected to change significantly with implementation of a new Customer Information System and will continue to be absorbed by the Rialto Utility Authority through the Concession Agreement and accounted for during the annual budget process.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
Sufficient budget in the amount of $412,500 is available in Water Fund Account No. 670-500-7960-3001 for the project. These are funds that were allocated to Facility Improvement Projects that are no longer needed. No additional appropriation is required.
For the wastewater portion of the project costs in the amount of $412,500, staff recommends a budget appropriation from the Rialto Utility Authority (RUA) Wastewater Reserves, Account No. 660-500-7150-3001. It should be noted that some of these reserves were built over the course of the Concession. Any savings or unused City contingencies will revert to the RUA Wastewater Reserves.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Utility Commission recommend City Council/Rialto Utility Authority approve a Final Construction Work Authorization in the amount of $825,000 to Rialto Water Services for the Customer Information System Replacement and Data Transfer and Conversion Services.