TITLE
title
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TAX SYSTEM CLOUD SERVICES
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SPONSOR
sponsor
Peter Purcell
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BACKGROUND
background
On April 7, 2022, the Board authorized staff to enter into a three-year sole source maintenance contract with Farragut System Inc., (NCPTS tax application vendor) in the amount of $201,400 annually, totaling $604,200 over a three-year term, beginning May 1, 2022 for the purpose of maintaining the current Tax Applications.
The North Carolina Property Tax Solution (NCPTS) is a resource available to counties to streamline and optimize all aspects of the property tax process. It is built on software developed by a North Carolina-based company, Farragut, and includes many beneficial features: (1) Consistent application of property tax law by NCPTS counties through best business practices, (2) Intuitive system based on established best practices and standards, (3) Automated appraisals, billing and collections allow county staff to effectively administer the property tax process, (4) Thorough training and maintenance support, (5) Collaborative nine-member Oversight Committee that serves to continuously improve NCPTS and promote best practice sharing among member counties, (6) Proactive consultation and legislative monitoring of tax-related developments by David Baker, NCACC Director of Tax and Revenue Outreach and former Director of the Local Government Division of NC Division of Revenue.
These applications are currently running on-premises at the County. Support for server maintenance, upgrades, information security and threat mitigation, and operational management and troubleshooting is provided by Farragut technical staff under a $72,504 annual support agreement. During the FY23 ITAC review, a proposal to move the application to the Farragut Cloud was approved and is included in the FY23 adopted budget. Moving to the Cloud will transfer these support activities to Farragut. This will free up server resources for other planned County project work. It should also improve system availability since County staff will no longer need to wait for Farragut to respond to submitted problem tickets. Farragut will have direct responsibility for detecting and correcting problems when they occur.
The attached amendment modifies the prior contract to incorporate Cloud Service and related fees. Farragut will provide project management and transition services at no cost to the County. The initial prorated cost for the Cloud Service will be $203,875 effective 4/1/2023. This reflects an April implementation date and a cost of $214,500 offset by a credit for unused annual support in the amount of $28,500 and an increase of $17,875 for an additional month to synchronize annual payments with those for the Tax Application. The agreement will automatically renew on 5/1/2024 at a cost of $214,500 to synchronize with the Tax Application initial term, for a total commitment of $418,375. After the initial term, the Cloud Service annual fee may be adjusted by Farragut each year by not more than 5%. The Cloud Service will automatically renew coincident with County executed Tax Application renewals unless either party provides written notice to the other party of its intent to terminate this Cloud Agreement at least ninety (90) days prior to the end of the then-current term.
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BUDGET IMPACT
budget impact
NO ADDITIONAL COUNTY FUNDS REQUIRED
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REQUESTED ACTION
requested action
Authorize staff to enter into a contract amendment, in substantial form, for Cloud Service with Farragut System Inc., in the amount of $418,375.
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