Clinton County approves $15,143 upgrade to assessor’s online property portal

Assessor Jade Ray told the Clinton County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 5 that she will upgrade the county’s Beacon property-portal package to add online appeal filings, comparable sales access and uploadable forms. “Pretty much, what I'm requesting from the commissioners … is just an upgrade to the current package that we have through Schneider for our Beacon website,” Ray said. Ray said the one-time setup fee for the upgrade is $15,143, prorated if work begins later in the year, and that ongoing maintenance for the upgraded service would be about $10,267 per year. “The additional cost, I can already cover from my existing budget,” she told the board. The county’s three commissioners voted to approve the purchase during the meeting. The board additionally agreed that Ray should present the purchase to the county council and that the commissioners would sign the contract after council action. The upgrade, as described by Ray, would let taxpayers submit appeals and upload required forms through Beacon and would allow staff to pull comparables and sales data directly from the portal. Ray said other county offices already use Beacon for septic and property records and could join the expanded functions if desired. Commissioners did not specify any contingency or alternate vendor; the motion passed with a 3-0 vote. The county will next route the procurement through the council process as the board directed.