Auburn approves $586,405 purchase of Tyler public‑safety software; departments expect year‑long implementation

The Auburn City Council approved a contract to purchase an enterprise public‑safety software suite from Tyler Technologies for $586,405, and staff said annual recurring maintenance and licensing costs are estimated at about $303,069.

Council members questioned the procurement and implementation process, prior vendor performance, costs and transition logistics. Councilmember Will Griswold asked about the city’s history with the existing vendor; staff said Southern Software (and predecessor products) has been in use since before 2009 but that the current solution no longer meets the city’s needs. Staff described demonstrations, customer reference checks and site visits with Tyler and said the city coordinated with police, fire and emergency communications during evaluation.

Staff explained the $586,405 figure covers initial purchase, implementation and training. "The initial purchase is this one‑time fee of $586,405 and that's for the initial contract amendment, implementation and training," a staff speaker said. The recurring annual cost was presented as approximately $303,069. Staff cautioned implementation could take up to 12 months and that there may be overlap with the current vendor while the city migrates and validates data. Staff estimated the current annual spend for the existing vendor is about $70,000; councilmembers discussed the possibility of paying both vendors during a transitional overlap.

Departments that will use the suite include police records, computer‑aided dispatch (emergency communications), fire record management and patient reporting modules used for ambulance/EMS reporting. Staff said Tyler’s products support automated submissions to state reporting systems and NIBRS federal reporting.

Budget and timing: staff said the purchase was not explicitly budgeted as a line item this fiscal year because final selection and pricing were pending; the city will absorb the initial cost in the current fiscal year and will include recurring maintenance in the next budget update. The council approved the contract by voice vote.

Implementation notes and risks: staff said the city will preserve historical records in the current system/cloud for access and will build the new database going forward, with data migration as part of implementation. Staff warned database conversion can involve significant technical work and that final overlap period and costs will be determined during migration and contract negotiations.