Council staff to proceed with Laserfiche contract after bid review; five-year cost and budget impacts noted

City staff told the budget committee they plan to move forward with a five-year Laserfiche document-management contract and that the initial-year cost exceeds the amount included in the current biennial budget.

The presenter said the city’s prior quote covered fewer users and a shorter term; staff rebid and obtained a five-year quote that spreads costs but whose new pricing model requires a higher year-one payment. Staff presented a year-one cost of roughly $36,000 (including setup and first-year licensing), an estimated total for the 2025–26 biennium of about $53,000 and a five-year total near $170,000; staff noted the budget variance for the biennium would be approximately $11,000 and recommended accounting for the second-year increases in the next budget cycle.

Council members asked whether the documents would be proprietary or city-owned and whether migration would be possible later. The presenter said “the documents themselves are ours,” noted the system stores PDF renditions of records, and added that metadata and workflows would be tied to the vendor’s system and would require work to migrate, but that the underlying files would remain accessible. Staff also said the contract can provide up to 100 user licenses and that the city will continue work to identify operational efficiencies and potential public-records fee changes to recoup costs over time.

Council asked staff to proceed with finalizing the contract and noted the renewal and year-two budget implications; staff said the item may appear as a consent agenda contract once legal review is complete.