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Lane County OKs $2.67M cap for PeopleSoft implementation amendment to add grants and commitment control
Summary
The board approved an amendment to a contract with SpearMC to implement grants and commitment-control modules in the county's PeopleSoft system, launching a two-year, countywide project to standardize encumbrance and grant tracking. The action included delegation to the county administrator to execute amendments up to a $2,667,300 total.
The Lane County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 30 approved a contract amendment with SPEARMC Management Consulting Inc. to implement commitment control (encumbrances) and grant-management modules in the county’s PeopleSoft financial system and delegated authority to the county administrator to execute contract amendments so long as the total contract expense does not exceed $2,667,300.
Lauren Blythe, director of operations, told the board the county’s last comprehensive PeopleSoft review was in 2004 and that growth in transactional volume and increased dependence on federal and state grants has created a need for more sophisticated encumbrance and grant tracking. Blythe said the amendment would standardize processes across departments, reduce reliance on hundreds of spreadsheets and “shadow systems,” and bring real-time reporting capability.
Blythe said the vendor, SPEARMC, was selected through a competitive solicitation and brings more than 25 years of experience modernizing PeopleSoft systems for the public sector. The project would be countywide and planned to run about two years; Blythe said there would be no new ongoing licensing costs as a result of the implementation.
Commissioners asked how the changes would affect audits, reporting and staff capacity. Greg Holmes, the county’s financial services manager and treasurer, said the county’s audits have historically come back clean but that the amendment would reduce the manual work needed to compile audit reports, reduce the risk of losing track of encumbrances and allow for cross-training so staff from other departments could step in when needed.
Commissioner Buck asked for a definition of commitment control; staff explained it as the system function that records obligations at the time they are made so that orders or encumbrances do not go unrecorded in decentralized spreadsheets. Commissioners and staff described benefits including faster public information responses, reduced chance of duplicate spending and improved department continuity during staff turnover.
Vice Chair (name not specified) moved to approve Order 25093009; the motion was seconded and the board voted 5-0 in favor. The order delegates authority to the county administrator to execute the approved amendment and future amendments that do not cause the contract total expense to exceed $2,667,300. The board recorded no additional conditions or amendments to the contract during the meeting.
