Board of Estimates approves $12 million increase to UMAX billing contract; members press for collection gains

The Baltimore City Board of Estimates on Jan. 22 approved a $12,000,000 increase to the city's contract with Itineris NA Inc. for the UMAX customer information and billing system, an amendment city officials said is needed to cover system upgrades, extended technical assistance and to bring Baltimore County onto the platform.

The increase was described by Department of Public Works (DPW) and procurement staff as the sixth amendment since the contract began in 2014 and brings the aggregate contract value to more than $53 million. Director Lundy of DPW and a DPW representative said the UMAX system now runs cloud-based billing, provides near-real-time meter reads and supports leak detection and other analytics that the city lacked under its legacy system.

Why it matters: The UMAX system underpins billing, leak detection and revenue collection for the city's water, sewer and stormwater utilities. Board members pressed DPW and procurement for explanations of the contract's growth over time, the vendor's compliance with disadvantaged-business…