New Tarentum software will let residents monitor electric, water usage

A new software system will give Tarentum residents a window into their electric and water usage, Borough Manager Michael Nestico said.

Borough council approved buying a software package from Tyler Technologies that includes financial record keeping, personnel management, payroll and utility billing and account maintenance.

It comes with an increased cost. Nestico said the annual cost will be $36,000. The system the borough currently uses, which he described as outdated, costs less than half, $15,000.

In addition, there is a $70,000 setup cost, Nestico said. Most of that will be covered by a $50,000 grant.

Money to pay the borough’s share of the cost was included in this year’s budget, Nestico said.

Nestico said the current system causes headaches, creates extra work and lowers productivity.

“It’s a nightmare,” Councilwoman Carrie Fox said. “It’s crazy.”

The new system will allow for better financial analysis and record keeping, including storing documents digitally instead of in boxes in the borough building’s attic.

Councilwoman Erika Josefoski made the motion to buy the new system.

“We need it,” she said.

Despite the increased annual costs, Josefoski said, “This is going to save us money,”

Nestico said the new system is cloud based, which will eliminate the need for the computer servers the borough now uses.

The borough will also no longer have to outsource payroll, which Nestico said will save about $4,200 annually, and it will no longer have to pay for backing up data, which he said costs about $1,500 a year.

Through the system, Nestico said residents will be able to get real-time information about their electric and water usage and see their usage history. Residents will be able to set up alerts that will notify them of any unusual or high usage, such as from a leaking or running toilet.

Currently, residents are able to find out about such problems only after getting a bill, Nestico said.

The new system, including the resident portal, will not be running and available until near the end of the year, he said.

Second system necessary

Tarentum will need to buy another software system by the end of the year, Nestico told council. That system collects data from the borough’s smart meters and feeds it into the other system.

Support for the system the borough currently uses runs out at the end of this year, and new meters will not work with it.

“This has to happen,” he said.

Nestico said a quote for the meter reading software, also cloud-based, comes to $34,000 annually. That is $22,000 more than the $12,000 the borough is paying each year now.

That system has a $35,000 setup cost, for which Nestico said the borough will also seek a grant.

Money to pay for that software was not included in this year’s borough budget. Nestico said council can wait until later this year to act on it, and the cost can be put into the borough’s 2021 budget.

Nestico said both systems offer resident portals. He said borough officials will need to compare them and decide which to use.