Council previews city chatbot and approves procurement and lease accounting policies

The council received a technology demonstration, a financial update and acted on two administrative resolutions at the April 21 meeting.

City Manager Cliff Blackwell demonstrated a CivicPlus chatbot integrated into the city website—initially named on the dais as “Lehi Heights Chatbot” with a suggested local name of "Glenn" (with two n's). Blackwell said the tool crawls site content, supports ten languages, provides analytics and reports gaps in coverage that staff can use to improve online information; the bot can also escalate unanswered queries to staff and collect contact information for follow-up.

Finance Director Sherry Roberts quickly summarized the March 2026 financial report: property-tax collections at about 98.84% for the year, year-to-date sales-tax receipts of roughly $6.86 million, general fund revenues at ~82.16% and general fund expenditures at ~41.7% of budget. She noted seasonal patterns in sales-tax months tied to quarterly payers.

On administrative items the council approved two resolutions. The first (R‑15‑26) authorized electronic receipt rules for bids and proposals (the finance office currently uses publicpurchase.com but will evaluate alternatives such as Bonfire or IonWave); the vote was recorded 5–0. The second (R‑16‑26) adopted a policy to implement GASB 87 and GASB 96 accounting for leases and subscription‑based IT (recognition of right‑to‑use assets and amortization); council approved the resolution 5–0.

Blackwell and Roberts said the chatbot and accounting policy compliance would roll out as staff resources and training permit; council members encouraged a naming contest for the chatbot and asked staff to continue refining procurement software options.