Carbondale trustees authorize town manager to finalize OpenGov contract for budgeting, licensing and tax software

The Carbondale Board of Trustees voted to authorize the town manager to finalize a contract with OpenGov for budgeting, permitting and tax software after a presentation from staff and OpenGov representatives and a discussion of costs, timing and funding.

Trustees said the software’s public-facing budget and capital-project tools would improve transparency and bilingual and accessibility features, and staff said they have identified in-year vacancy savings to cover the project without a midyear budget amendment. The board’s action directs staff to continue contract negotiations and allows the town manager to sign the agreement once the town attorney’s requested edits are accepted.

Greg, a town staff member who led the procurement effort, told trustees he had researched several vendors and concluded OpenGov best fit the town’s needs because it is purpose-built for municipal finance. He said the town could fund the implementation from projected vacancy savings of approximately $193,000 and stressed the trade-off between higher upfront implementation costs and longer-term benefit: “buy once, cry once,” he said.

OpenGov representatives demonstrated an electronic publications tool that can publish an ADA-compliant, translatable budget book with interactive charts and capital-project maps that update from the town’s financial system. Colin, OpenGov’s solutions engineer, showed sample dashboards and said the platform supports translations into about 30 languages and color-contrast checks for accessibility. Rachel, an OpenGov licensing specialist, demonstrated the public portal and a workflow “tracker” that shows applicants the real-time status of permit and licensing reviews.

Staff and trustees discussed technical details and timing. Implementation will include an integration between the town’s accounting system (Caselle) and OpenGov, data mapping and user training. Greg and OpenGov staff estimated the migration and professional-services implementation at roughly $94,400 as a one-time setup cost in year one, with ongoing subscription costs thereafter (the proposal cited approximately $66,000 annual cost beginning in year two). Trustees were told those figures include the budget-publication module and licensing/tax features and that the town’s current vendor for tax and short-term-rental services (MuniRevs) costs the town roughly $38,000 annually today.

Trustees and staff discussed sequencing: town staff said the Town received a DOLA-funded contract for online building permitting (CityInspect) and that the OpenGov proposal, as presented, does not replace the town’s building-permit contract. Staff estimated the vendor integration and data migration would take several months and that approving the contract now would allow the town to use OpenGov’s budgeting tools for the next budget cycle; licensing and tax functionality could be launched after integrations and public notice, with a target of January 1, 2026 for going live on tax/licensing.

Trustees asked about security and data ownership; OpenGov representatives said the platform is hosted on FedRAMP/SOC2‑compliant infrastructure in the U.S., supports role-based permissions, and the town retains ownership of its data.

The board’s formal action authorized staff to continue negotiating contract language and authorized the town manager to sign the contract after the town attorney reviews and approves requested edits. The motion was made by Trustee Colin Collins and seconded by Trustee Erica (last name not specified in the record). The board voted in favor and the motion passed unanimously.

Next steps: staff will finish contract negotiations with OpenGov’s legal team, complete integrations with the town’s accounting system, and bring finalized implementation plans and timelines to trustees and affected departments for operational preparation and public notification.