Financial software headaches continue in Lodi
City officials continue working to rectify issues with billing system
It’s been more than a year since the City of Lodi began the process of updating its financial software, including the installation of a new billing system in the utility department this past fall.
The conversion has been challenging for the city, and at times frustrating for employees and customers alike.
During the past couple months, city staff has been working with the software vendor, Tyler Technologies, to rectify problems with processing payments. However, customers continue to complain of experiencing difficulty with using the software.
According to City Manager Steve Schwabauer, the city’s previous financial software system was no longer being serviced, forcing the city to switch to new software.
“The software was no longer being patched by the vendor, so it’s like having a Nintendo 64. You might have it, but if it breaks there is no mechanic to fix it,” Schwabauer said. “We had no choice. We had to change our financial system software package.”
Schwabauer says the software is the issue, not the billing system.
“The billing system is the element of it, but the billing system is just a small piece of the package. It is a much larger system than just the utility billing,” Schwabauer said. “It handles payroll. It handles all of our accounts payable. It handles our annual financial report. It handles our budget. It handles our accountability systems and approval systems for employee purchases. It’s a big system. It’s not just the billing for water and wastewater and electricity, and we had to replace it.”
During the switch to a new system, the city considered a number of products before choosing the new software system. It seemed like the best choice out of the available options, Schwabauer said.
One of the most common complaints about the new software is the inability of customers to sign up for recurring payments. Schwabauer said that he plans to meet with the software vendor next week to explore if it has a solution or if there is a third-party vendor that could provide the service.
Some customers on a budget billing plan have complained that their bills are fluctuating when they should be staying static. Schwabauer said he doesn’t have an explanation for why that is happening and will discuss it with the vendor at next week’s meeting.
He said customers have also complained about having difficulty signing up for online accounts, adding that the city has addressed the issue by providing a sign-up tutorial.
There has also been an issue with the software erroneously reporting late billing notices, but Schwabauer said the city is not charging late fees due to billing glitches.
“We have seen some progress in the ability to sign up but there are still some challenges that we’re working through,” Schwabauer said. “As you implement a financial system software package, at this time you expect there to be problems. There is always glitches when you go live with new software, and I think we’re working through it. We acknowledge it. We still have some issues to work through, and will be meeting with our vendor next week to work through some of those.”
In the meantime, Schwabauer said the city is willing to work with the customers who are experiencing issues with the software.
Schwabauer said that the city has invested over $2 million in the new software system. He said it would be irresponsible to scrap it and start with a new software system at this point.
“It’s not a small thing to replace, and I don’t think we’ve worked hard enough to work through these problems at this point, given the cost involved for this software, to chuck it and start all over,” he said.