WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS APPROVE TECH UPGRADES FOR ACCOUNTS PAYABLE, WEBSITE

  

Washington County Commissioners approved a series of items today (Tuesday) meant to streamline the accounts payable process and assist in updating the county’s website.

The court signed off on the purchase of Tyler Technologies AP Automation software for disbursements.  County Auditor Shawna Hollis said the software should improve efficiency and significantly cut down on operational costs from manually processing accounts payable, from reducing staff time spent handling invoices and checks, to getting rid of unneeded printing and mailing, to allowing electronic approvals by elected officials and department heads.

The annual cost for the software is $17,178, but Hollis estimates the county will save $37,833 a year in manual processing costs. 

Later, commissioners approved statements of work with CivicPlus, one to provide access to the AI Content Advisor service for the county website, and the other to implement standard department headers for the sheriff’s office and EMS Department websites.

Information Technology Director T.J. Harris said the AI Content Advisor will automate the county’s ability to parse its website, as it will locate “stale” content, outdated information and broken hyperlinks.  He said it will also improve search engine optimization and will help ensure the material on the website is understandable and correct.  The cost for the service is $850 a year. 

As for the department headers, Harris explained that the sheriff’s office and EMS departments have their own individual websites hosted by different providers than the county’s main website.  He said the service will allow for these sites to be connected to the CivicPlus system and managed by the same content management system.  He said this will give the county consistent branding throughout its sites, but still allow the sheriff’s office and EMS to maintain the unique characteristics of their own sites.  The cost for the service is a one-time payment of $5,986 and annual support of $1,626, taking care of both sites.

In other business, the court:

• Agreed to hire a patrol deputy for the sheriff’s office at a pay rate exceeding the 6 percent allowable amount in accordance with county policy, based off of the candidate’s past years of experience. 
• Heard monthly reports from the sheriff’s office, county and district clerks, justices of the peace, auditor, tax assessor-collector, treasurer, constables, elections, and veterans service office.

Click here to view the agenda packet for Tuesday's meeting.