Garfield County commissioners on Sept. 8 approved a supplemental budget request of $77,771 so the assessor’s office can finalize a contract to replace its computer-assisted mass appraisal system and awarded the software contract to Government Software Assurance Corporation for an amount not to exceed $377,770.83.

The county assessor told commissioners the current system is increasingly difficult to update for legislative changes and that the selected vendor’s cloud-hosted product promises time savings and better use of AI for data analysis. The assessor said one demonstration showed a statistical review that took a lead appraiser a day using the new tools instead of nearly two months manually.

County finance and procurement staff reviewed the RFP process and recommended the award. Commissioners asked about recurring costs; staff and the assessor said the county will replace an existing annual software fee with the new vendor’s annual fee and projected the purchase will pay for itself in roughly five years through staff efficiencies and by eliminating one full-time equivalent position that had been planned.

The commissioners approved the supplemental budget and the contract in separate motions and directed staff to complete the signature paperwork.

Background: county staff said the assessor’s office had budgeted an initial $300,000 request earlier in the year. The new $77,771 supplement covers initial implementation costs the assessor did not anticipate at the time of that earlier request, including the vendor’s initial annual subscription, data conversion and implementation fees. The contract award was presented as part of the procurement process after an RFP and evaluation.

The contract includes a multi-stage conversion timetable; staff said conversion work will take about a year.

What’s next: county staff will finalize the vendor contract and begin conversion work. Commissioners did not record any dissent when voting; motions carried unanimously.