Dearborn Heights studies move of BS&A municipal software to vendor cloud; one-time costs, funding options debated

Dearborn Heights city officials reviewed a proposal June 17 to move the city’s BS&A municipal software from on‑premises .NET servers to BS&A’s cloud platform, with staff saying the one‑time implementation cost could be about $172,740 and annual fees could rise to roughly $175,650.

The proposal, presented at a study session by Director Matthew Cooper, focused on operational benefits — a single, integrated database; faster access for staff and residents; real‑time notifications; and consolidated GIS layers — and on security and budget implications. "This is going to take time. It is gonna take a lot of work," Director Matthew Cooper said as he described implementation and training needs.

Why it matters: council members and staff said the migration would touch nearly every department (finance, assessor, building inspections, utilities and courts), change daily workflows and require money in the current and next fiscal years. Staff suggested using water fund money for the utility‑billing portion and recommended spreading implementation payments across two fiscal years to soften the budget impact.

Most important facts

- Costs: Cooper told the council the vendor’s most recent quote lists a one‑time implementation figure of roughly $172,740 and annual cloud fees of about $175,650. Cooper said the city currently pays about $60,000 per year to maintain the local .NET environment.

- Proposed pacing and payments: Staff discussed a potential schedule that splits the vendor’s quoted one‑time fees across fiscal years — an initial vendor payment (quoted at about $58,009.35) followed by a later payment…