Consultant: County cashiering fragmented; Tyler and stand-alone vendors are main options

Peoria County heard on Nov. 6 that its payment-collection processes are fragmented and would benefit from either a Tyler cashiering module or a best-of-breed standalone system.

Jonathan Grace, principal in Barry Dunn's local government practice, told the joint finance and executive committee that consultants visited nine county locations and identified 19 different systems or manual methods used to accept and record payments. "Duplicate entry in multiple systems," limited online-payment options and "balancing issues and delays" were among the problems the study documented, he said.

The feasibility work included a market-level request for information. Two vendors emerged as close fits: a stand-alone cashiering system (CanAm/Canon's Teller) and Tyler Technologies' cashiering module, which integrates directly with the county's existing Tyler ERP. Barry Dunn's summary showed CanAm with a higher one-time cost (about $435,000) and higher annual SaaS fees (about $1.14 million with a noted 4% annual increase), versus Tyler's lower one-time cost (about $203,000) and lower annual cost (about $75,000 with an estimated 5% annual increase). Grace said CanAm does not supply hardware; Tyler's solution was designed to work within the Tyler product suite.

County staff and members asked several operational questions, including whether multiple credit-card processors were in use and whether the study examined PCI/security and fraud protections. Grace said the RFI included security- and PCI-related questions and that a full RFP would include more detailed security requirements. A committee member asked whether the county knows the total it currently spends on card fees; consultants and staff said that figure is not known and must be traced across departments, some of which elected their own providers.

The consultant said the next step is a system-planning memo that will summarize options, benefits and risks and is expected to be completed in November. That memo will present choices such as (a) amending the county's existing Tyler contract to add the Tyler cashiering module or (b) issuing an RFP for a standalone cashiering system, each of which has procurement implications. Staff told the committee there are funds earmarked from earlier ERP work that could be applied to the project.

Committee members emphasized operational priorities including integrations to eliminate duplicate entry, online payment portals, recurring payments and refund processing. Several members also urged careful security and implementation specifications in any subsequent RFP.

The committee did not make a final procurement decision on Nov. 6. Staff said Barry Dunn will help prepare procurement documents if the county chooses to move forward with a competitive solicitation or a contract amendment.