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DEW to roll out new benefit system this summer and follow with tax system upgrade
Summary
DEW told the committee it plans a benefits-system rollout this summer and later a tax-system modernization; both projects use fixed-price contracts and a multi-state partnership intended to reduce costs and share technical expertise.
Director Stanton told the committee DEW is participating in multi-state modernization of unemployment-benefits and tax systems with North Carolina and Georgia. She said the benefits system is scheduled to go live in South Carolina this summer, with a tax system to follow.
Stanton described the contract structure as fixed-price and back-end payment: "we pay for working product," she said, adding that DEW had paid only about 26 percent of the tax-system contract value at the time because full payments are tied to delivered, functioning modules. She told the committee the state did not ask the General Assembly for additional funds for those projects because the contracts were designed as fixed-price.
The director said the multi-state approach provided cost savings and broader subject-matter expertise: "3 heads are better than 1," she said, describing vendor collaboration and frequent interagency information-sharing. Stanton also described plans to evaluate job-matching systems and schedule vendor demonstrations with partner agencies when seeking a labor-market product replacement.
