HomeMy WebLinkAbout082817_ra01JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners 4,
c
Philip Morley, County Administrato
FROM: Mark McCauley, Central Servic erector
DATE: August 28, 2017
RE: Request for Board of County Commissioners approval to purchase GovQA for use
in centrally managing requests for public records under the Public Records Act,
Chapter 42.56 RCW.
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
The Public Records Act requires that counties receive and respond appropriately to public records requests
submitted by members of the public. Failure to meet the requirements of the Public Records Act subjects the county
to potential liability. Establishing an effective and efficient system to manage these requests minimizes this liability
exposure. Changes to the Public Records Act, effective July 23, 2017, require the keeping of detailed statistics on
public records act compliance that will be difficult, if not impossible, to collect without software that the County
does not have. Enterprise -wide public records request management software is available for counties and other
governments wanting to establish an effective and efficient public records request management program and collect
the statistics required by the July 23, 2017 change in the Public Records Act.
ANALYSIS:
In evaluating available public records request management software our Information Technology staff, Public
Records Administrator and Central Services Director determined GovQA to be best of breed. Over 50 local
governments in Washington are using GovQA to manage their public records request programs. We contacted a
number of counties using GovQA and received hearty endorsements of the product. We met with staff from all
departments and elective offices and have their support to move forward with GovQA.
We have a Master Contract Usage Agreement with the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES)
which allows us to use contracts they have with third parties. DES has a contract with the National Association of
State Purchasing Officials ValuePoint Software Value Added Reseller, which includes GovQA. Because of this we
can buy the software with a purchase order, without having to issue a Request for Proposals.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Cost for the software and licenses for the first year is $24,366.80. Annual costs thereafter gradually increase in years
two through five starting with $19,134.96 in year two. Information Technology has sufficient budget capacity for
this purchase with reimbursement coming from non -departmental. This not currently a budgeted expenditure.
Should non -departmental have sufficient capacity as we near year end a budget adjustment won't be necessary.
Should that not be the case we will request an adjustment in the 4th quarter supplemental. Costs in year two and
beyond will be recovered through the Central Services Cost Allocation Plan.
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the purchase of GovQA.
IE WED BY:
ip ore , ounty Admini r Date