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City staff proposes Tyler Payments upgrade after repeated complaints about portal usability
Summary
City accounting manager Patricia McKeever told the council the city’s Tyler Munis citizen self‑service portal generates frequent complaints about enrollment and autopay changes and staff recommends migrating to Tyler Payments/Resident Access with a $12,000 implementation; council asked for more vendor performance detail and alternatives.
Patricia McKeever, the city’s accounting manager, told the council the city implemented Tyler Munis modules in 2020 and has upgraded the system several times since. She said the main recurring customer complaint concerns the enrollment flow — residents must delete and re‑enroll autopay when a credit card expires — and that many users find the portal “not user friendly.”
McKeever recommended migrating to Tyler Payments and Resident Access, which would consolidate merchant services with the ERP and allow payment options such as Apple Pay, credit cards and e‑checks. She told the council staff is targeting spring 2025 for implementation and estimated a $12,000 implementation and data‑migration fee; ongoing costs would be transaction fees. “There have been some issues with citizen self‑service that have persisted even through the upgrades,” McKeever said.
Vice Mayor Scott and other members pressed staff about contract length, how the city can enforce performance standards, and whether the city is evaluating cloud or AI‑enabled alternatives. Staff said Tyler remains widely used by neighboring jurisdictions and that the proposed migration would reduce third‑party data handoffs and improve reconciliation and reporting. Staff also said some problems reflect a shared implementation responsibility between the city and vendor rather than vendor failure alone.
Council did not take a final procurement vote at the meeting; staff said the next steps are to develop an implementation plan, a communications schedule for residents and internal staff training. The city will continue to evaluate staffing and whether online adoption rates (currently about 39% for utility payments) can be increased through a more modern interface.
