Milpitas council approves $610,500 amendment for ERP consultant after staff warns of delivery risk

Milpitas City Council voted to amend a consulting contract for the city’s enterprise resource planning implementation, approving an additional $610,500 for Barry Dunn, McNeil & Parker LLC after staff said the extra hours are needed to meet implementation targets.

The council approved the amendment on a 4-1 vote. Vice Mayor Barbara Barbadillo moved the measure and Councilmember Lien seconded it; Councilmember Chua voted no. Mayor Carmen Montano, Councilmember Lam and Vice Mayor Barbadillo voted to approve the amendment.

City Finance Director Luz Caffrese Howe told the council the city underestimated the external project-management effort needed for the large implementation and that consultant hours originally budgeted were being consumed faster than expected. “We did not allow enough for external project management services,” Luz said during debate, adding that the additional hours reflect updated project scheduling and heavier on-site and decision-support requirements.

Council discussion focused on whether to approve the funding tonight or postpone the item until the new city manager begins and staff can produce a more detailed project-plan breakdown. Several council members asked for a clearer breakdown of the incremental $610,500 and the specific deliverables tied to the additional hours; staff agreed to provide that detail to the council. At one point Councilmember Chua said she could not vote to approve until the council received a line-by-line explanation of where the additional consultant hours would be spent.

Staff described the deliverables as the completion and go-live of the city’s financial modules and, subsequently, payroll and a new human resources information system (HRIS) that are intended to replace multiple legacy spreadsheets and disconnected systems. The amendment covers additional consultant support hours the vendor will provide as the city advances configuration, testing and cutover tasks. “If this is not approved, we cannot guarantee that this project will be delivered on time,” Luz said, noting the risk to the currently planned schedule.

Project staff said the most intensive months are underway, including configuration testing, workflow design and security setups; they cautioned that deferring approval could slow consultant staffing and coordination. Project calendars shown to council list frequent on-site working sessions, decision-point meetings and integration testing through mid-2026.

The motion passed after extended discussion and public comment. One resident who spoke during public comment urged council members to move forward to avoid interrupting implementation. Councilmembers who supported the amendment said they preferred to approve the incremental funding while staff prepares the additional project-level details requested by the council.

Staff said travel costs and other reimbursable expenses will be billed as incurred under the contract amendment. The council directed staff to return supplemental detail about how the $610,500 will be spent and to continue regular project updates to the council and finance subcommittee.

What the council approved

The action authorizes the city manager or designee to execute Amendment No. 1 to the professional services agreement with Barry Dunn, McNeil & Parker LLC for enterprise resource planning (ERP) consulting services in the amount of $610,500. The amendment increases the consultant’s available support hours to address expanded project-management and on-site support needs connected to configuration, testing and cutover for the financial, payroll and HRIS modules.

Vote tally

- Yes: Vice Mayor Barbara Barbadillo; Councilmember Lam; Councilmember Lien; Mayor Carmen Montano (4) - No: Councilmember Chua (1)

Next steps

Staff will provide the council a more detailed breakdown of the additional consultant hours and the specific deliverables tied to the $610,500. Councilmembers and staff discussed returning with that breakdown at a subsequent council meeting; staff indicated the project will continue work under remaining contract hours while preparing the requested detail.

Notes on scope and schedule

Staff described the amendment as covering project-management and technical support to complete configuration testing, workflow and security setup, integrations with existing systems, training and cutover support. The city’s timeline targets phased go-lives: financial modules first, then payroll and HRIS; staff said the HRIS cutover is scheduled for mid-2026. Staff repeatedly stated the change request reflects a prior underestimate of the project-management effort needed to coordinate a citywide ERP implementation.