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Newcastle council approves three-year OpenGov permitting contract, cites staff time and cost savings
Summary
The Newcastle City Council voted 7-0 to approve a three-year contract with OpenGov Inc. for permitting software. Staff said the software would reduce routing time, support electronic payments and produce long-term savings despite annual increases and a fixed contract banding model.
The Newcastle City Council on Oct. 7 adopted a resolution authorizing a three-year contract with OpenGov Inc. to host the city’s permitting software and online payments.
Councilmember Charbonneau moved adoption of Resolution 2025-1058; the motion was seconded and the council approved it 7-0.
City planning staff said OpenGov, founded in 2012, serves more than 2,000 jurisdictions and that the city negotiated a 39% discount. Director Fitzgibbons told the council the contract carries a 5% annual price increase after the initial term and that OpenGov prices by an operating-budget “band,” not by user count. She said the city had evaluated alternatives, including software priced by permit volume, but recommended OpenGov because it provided a predictable, banded pricing model and a larger feature set.
“We route permits 580 times a year,” Fitzgibbons said during the presentation, and staff estimated the software could save “approximately 10 to 15 hours per week” by automating routing and inspection coordination. Fitzgibbons said Newcastle averages about 230 building permits, 17 land-use permits and five engineering permit applications per year.
Councilmember Charbonneau cited a staff exhibit showing operating-cost comparisons and said the move would save the city money over the 2025–28 span. "Not only was is making this move a $245,000 cost saving over that span, it also saves 10 to 15 hours of staff time," Charbonneau said.
Staff told the council that electronic payments were expected to be widely used by applicants, particularly those outside the immediate area, but did not provide a precise estimate of expected credit-card transaction volume. The council was also told OpenGov worked with the city’s existing finance products such as Cartograph under a coordinated approach.
The contract was presented as a three-year agreement with automatic continuation under the stated escalation (5% annual). Staff said termination provisions exist but did not detail them in the meeting record.
What’s next: The resolution authorizes the city manager to finalize the contract with OpenGov and implement the permitting system. Staff will proceed with vendor onboarding and internal process changes intended to reduce permit routing time and coordinate inspection workflows.
Votes at a glance: Resolution 2025-1058 — approve contract with OpenGov Inc.; mover: Councilmember Charbonneau; second: not specified in the meeting transcript; vote: 7-0, motion passes.
Funding and fiscal notes: Staff said the implementation and annual service cost will be paid from the general fund; exhibit materials presented to council compared the multi-year cost of continuing the current manual process to the OpenGov contract and showed lower projected costs with OpenGov over a three-year window.
Council and staff said the contract aligns with prior investments in the city’s financial and transparency tools and will be rolled out as staff completes configuration and training.
