Bartlesville council allocates $50,000 to pilot homelessness case‑management software after public debate

The Bartlesville City Council on Sept. 2 voted to allocate up to $50,000 to support a communitywide instance of CharityTracker, a by‑name case‑management and resource‑mapping software the Unsheltered Homeless Task Force recommended.

Supporters of the task force and the software told the council the tool would let helping organizations coordinate care, reduce duplication and track progress toward housing placements. Opponents and some public commenters urged the council not to use taxpayer dollars for software subscriptions, raising concerns about privacy and the city’s proper role.

The decision matters because the city had set aside $100,000 in this year’s budget for the task force; the council’s action earmarks a portion of that fund for a software pilot and signals willingness to subsidize an initial community on‑ramp while leaving ongoing subscription decisions to nonprofits and future council approvals.

Public comments were strongly mixed. Eddie Collins said he opposed using tax money for the software, arguing "it is not the duty of city government to allocate software funding for the unsheltered homeless task force." Noah Meadows urged a no vote and accused Councilman Aaron Kirkpatrick of pushing a plan that, Meadows said, could lead to criminalizing unsheltered residents; Meadows said Kirkpatrick had advocated tracking software citywide to "keep unhoused folks from supposedly taking advantage of Bartlesville's resources." Reverend Kelly Becker, who said she had spoken with nonprofit leaders and with Councilman Kirkpatrick, urged the council to seek wider buy‑in and to ensure clients know how their information will be used: "Will people accessing services be made aware that their information will be shared with other organizations? I think that would be the ethical thing to do." Angela Utley of the Washington County Democrats asked for a delayed vote to assess agency interest.

Task force coordinator Rachel Schoeller told the council the group planned a "Helping Organizations Summit" Oct. 22 at Tri‑County and is working with the Bartlesville Community Foundation to create a text‑to‑give endowment. She said a task‑force subcommittee evaluated multiple platforms and recommended CharityTracker because it supports by‑name data, unlimited users under certain tiers, and has been used by some local agencies already: "Data tracking allows us to create by‑name data. ... The only way we can do that is to track data based on each individual." Schoeller described the summit as the place to demonstrate the software to local nonprofits and measure interest.

Councilman Aaron Kirkpatrick, who led the council presentation, said the task force proposes an on‑ramp in which the city would cover 100% of participating agencies’ costs in year one and then split costs (50/50) in years two and three so organizations can evaluate value and plan for sustainability. Kirkpatrick said the city would not grant cash to nonprofits; rather, the city would purchase the community license and participating organizations would create and control their own accounts and administrative settings.

Several council members pressed staff on oversight, fiscal accounting and legal risks. City finance and staff noted potential accounting implications under governmental reporting standards (GASB) depending on contract form and multi‑year commitments; questions about HIPAA and data anonymization were raised and staff said they would seek details about how client privacy and opt‑out would be handled. One council member flagged a pending state legislative matter (Senate Bill 484) that could later restrict municipal expenditures tied to homelessness in jurisdictions with fewer than 300,000 people and said that possibility counseled caution.

Council debate ended when a motion to amend the task force request from $75,000 to an allocation of $50,000 was offered and approved. The council voted unanimously: Councilman Aaron Kirkpatrick — aye; Vice Mayor Dorsey — aye; Mr. Sherrick — aye; Councilman East — aye; Mayor Curt — aye. The council discussion and the allocation language made clear this was an earmark/authorization only; no money will be spent until the council reviews and approves a specific contract or purchase order with CharityTracker and any participation agreements required by the nonprofits.

Counsel and staff said the next steps are: present CharityTracker and the participation/application details at the Oct. 22 summit, finalize a contract and subscription tier with the vendor, document privacy/sustainability provisions for participating agencies, and return to council for contract approval and any line‑item spending.