Title
Recommendation to Authorize the Interim City Manager to Execute an Agreement with OpenGov, Inc. for Continued Use of the Budget and Planning Module, for an Amount Not-to-Exceed $143,546.91 for Year One, $150,724.25 for Year Two, $158,260.48 for Year Three, and $166,173.49 for Year Four, for a Total Compensation Not to Exceed $618,705.13. (Finance 10024051)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Adam W. Politzer, Interim City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Since 2020, OpenGov has provided a comprehensive and transparent budgeting platform for the City of Alameda (City). In May 2020, City Council approved the execution of an agreement with OpenGov, Inc., to provide services for the Finance Department to build the budget, manage workforce planning and integrate financial information across platforms through the Budget and Planning module. In July 2025, that agreement was extended for one year.
The Budget and Planning modules are compatible with the City’s current financial accounting software, Tyler Enterprise ERP. The total cost for this module is $618,705.13 for Fiscal Years (FY) 2026-29. There is no upfront deployment cost associated with OpenGov if the City decides to renew the existing services.
Staff recommends authorizing the Interim City Manager to execute an amended agreement with OpenGov (Exhibit 1) to continue utilizing this software, which is essential for the continued management and planning of the City’s Biennial, Mid-Cycle, and Mid-Year Budgets.
BACKGROUND
In July 2025, City Council authorized the City Manager to execute an agreement with OpenGov for one year in an amount of $143,546.91. The agreement provides that it will terminate in June 2026 but may be extended by agreement of both parties. Both parties wish to extend the term of the agreement and make modifications.
OpenGov is a leading provider of cloud-based tools designed for local governments to enhance budgeting and associated performance, communication, reporting, and open data, ultimately resulting in more transparent and comprehensive outcomes for both City staff and the public.
The Budget and Planning module has streamlined and enhanced the budgeting process from start to finish, from the initial stages of strategic planning and personnel forecasting to the final stages of City Council approval and staff implementation. OpenGov’s integrated online suite of solutions aggregate and synchronize both financial and non-financial data. This allows the City to effectively plan and manage its strategic initiatives by capturing priorities, linking budgets to these priorities, identifying key performance indicators, while allowing public engagement throughout the process.
DISCUSSION
The five main features of the OpenGov Budget and Planning module are:
Community Feedback: This feature allows for the efficient development of the operating and capital budgets while promoting communication and collaboration between internal stakeholders from initial budget stages to adoption. Since initially implementing OpenGov in 2020, the City has received the Government Finance Officers Association’s distinguished Budget Presentation Award for all Biennial budgets.
Dashboards: With this feature staff can create easy-to-understand charts, graphs and other visuals based on the data. Dashboards can be utilized across all features to facilitate transparency by explaining complex data through visuals.
Operating & Capital Budgeting (Budget Builder): For the City Manager, Public Works, and Finance departments to create a collaborative budget, the departments need a central platform to cost out and calculate many scenarios. The Budget Builder feature allows these departments to project multiple scenarios while having input from many different departments and stakeholders.
Reporting & Analytics: This feature integrates with the City’s Tyler Enterprise ERP system using OpenGov’s Communications and Reporting features to track budget and actuals and use the OpenGov dashboards and reports to run day-to-day budget-to-actual analytics. By having the data integrated, users can compare their budget in OpenGov to actuals in Tyler Enterprise ERP. The Finance Department can also set strict budget limits to disallow over-budget transactions to proceed.
Workforce Planning: This feature allows the Finance and Human Resources Departments to forecast personnel costs and create different outcomes and projections for different labor scenarios. The workforce numbers flow into the Biennial and Mid-Cycle operating budgets to create accurate and timely City budget.
ALTERNATIVES
• Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an Agreement with OpenGov.
• Do not authorize the Interim City Manager to execute the Agreement. City staff will then consider submitting a Request for Proposal to all budget planning software providers.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The City Manager previously approved the original Agreement and First Amendment as presented below:
|
Contract |
Approval Term Date |
New Authorized Amount |
|
Original Agreement |
July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2025 |
$731,665 |
|
New Agreement |
July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 |
$143,546.91 |
|
1st Amendment |
July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2029 |
$618,705.13 (includes previous $143,546.91) |
Approval of the First Amendment includes the amount of $143,546.91 previously authorized under the New Agreement in 2025. To date, expenditures have not exceeded this amount.
The First Amendment revises the terms of compensation and establishes a new not-to-exceed amount of $618,705.13 for services provided during the extended term. Additionally, this amendment extends the agreement term through June 30, 2029.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
Pursuant to Alameda Municipal Code section 2-61.7 (Joint Purchases with Public Agencies), purchase of equipment, among other items, may be purchased without resorting to formal bidding provided that the price paid by another public agency was itself the subject of competitive bidding. Staff confirmed that the price proposed by OpenGov is below the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) price list offered by a NASPO vendor, which is also an authorized reseller of OpenGov. In accordance with City Administrative Instruction Number 5 (“Purchasing Policy”), vehicles may be purchased through cooperative purchasing such as NASPO. Additionally, for procurement purposes, OpenGov’s software platform is the only integrated multi-tenant Software as a Service (“SaaS”) solution that can meet and/or exceed the City’s desired goals for communications, reporting, and civic engagement.
This action is subject to the Levine Act.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is not a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 10561(b)(3) as there is no possibility that this action may have a significant effect on the environment.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement with OpenGov, Inc. for continued use of the Budget and Planning Module, for an amount not-to-exceed $143,546.91 for year one, $150,724.25 for year two, $158,260.48 for year three, and $166,173.49 for year four, for a total compensation not to exceed $618,705.13 through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2029.
Respectfully submitted,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director
By,
Ecaterina Burton, Budget Manager
Exhibits:
1. Amended Agreement
2. Original Agreements
3. Work Order