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Goodhue County board approves reconversion of property tax/appraisal system to reduce staff burden
Summary
After staff described missing data and user difficulties with the county's current Tyler system, the board approved a $178,200 reconversion to a Camelite tax solution with Vanguard appraisals, citing projected annual software savings of about $25,000.
The Goodhue County Board voted to approve a reconversion of the county's property tax and appraisal systems to a Camelite tax/assessment solution with Vanguard appraisals, following a staff presentation that described widespread usability problems with the county's current Tyler implementation.
Lucas, the county staff member who presented the item, said the county has been on the Tyler system for nearly two-and-a-half years and that the CAMA portion of the conversion caused significant operational problems. "Common feedback we received includes that the system is not user friendly, necessary data is no longer available, users are having difficulty in finding the information, and too many clicks are required to access that information," Lucas said, describing impacts on bankers, appraisers and county staff.
Lucas told the board that property sketches required by statute did not convert and staff must recreate that data. He summarized a reconversion quote from Tyler Technologies at $178,200 and noted $190,000 is currently in the 2026 budget for the project. Staff estimated ongoing software costs would fall by roughly $25,000 per year, from about $111,000 to about $86,000, if the county moves to the Camelite/Vanguard approach.
Commissioners discussed options including staying on the fully integrated Tyler solution (higher ongoing cost) and the timing of conversion work. Several commissioners supported moving back to a system more familiar to local users. "Those systems don't work like they said they were gonna work. They just, plain and simple, don't," Commissioner Anderson said.
The board voted to approve the reconversion and staff said Tyler could begin the work in late Q2 2027, subject to scheduling and other counties ahead of Goodhue in the conversion queue. Staff said the county will need significant staff time to either export and clean current data or bring Vanguard up to date manually before the vendor completes the switch.
Next steps: Staff will work with Tyler Technologies to finalize scope and schedule, prepare data-transfer plans and return with procurement/award recommendations as needed.
