Chelan County Seeking Bids For Major Software Overhaul At Offices

Chelan County will be seeking bids for a second time for a countywide financial software system to replace the current one. 

The current vendor provided notice in 2022 that it would not be updating its software after 2027. 

County Budget Director Nicole Thompson says they're seeking bids for a second time after fine-tuning their needs. 

"We just had some concerns on the direction that we were moving, and thought it would be better to do a new RFP (Request for Proposal) that was a little more inclusive, in terms of what we were really wanting in terms of what we need not only for our software but also what we're looking for in terms of the partnering we are entering into." 

The county wants to be specific in its intention to have a long-term agreement with the new firm as the current provider has been in place since 2001. 

"Anyone who has already submitted a proposal can obviously submit another one, and we can move forward that way, but just making sure that we're heading all of the things that we have deemed necessary in this partnership," Thompson said. 

After attending the Washington State Finance Officers Association Conference, the county obtained a list of additional vendors that'll receive the county's request for proposal.

The county is looking for new financial software that can be used across county departments for better reporting on a day-to-day basis. The current provider is not able to fulfill that priority. 

About $1.2 million in Federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds are being used to update county budgeting and financial services. 

The money includes the new budget director's salary and dollars for 3 types of software: budgeting, finance, and HR.  

There's no specific dollar amount as of yet for the financial software program.