SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Approve an agreement with Cayenta, a division of N. Harris Computer Corp., of British Columbia, Canada, for support and maintenance, professional services, and hosted AI agent services in support of the Utility Billing Management System, for a total not-to-exceed amount of $1,192,873.13, for the 5-year term beginning November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2030, pursuant to Clearwater Code of Ordinances Section 2.563(1)(d), Non-competitive purchase (impractical), and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same. (consent)
Body
SUMMARY:
Utility Customer Service currently uses Cayenta’s Utility Management System to bill a wide range of City services, including water, sewer, reclaimed water, stormwater, solid waste, recycling and gas, serving more than 50,000 customers. The system maintains customer records, consumption histories and billable service records for all city utilities and supports the collection of approximately $180 million annually. In addition, the system is used by multiple city departments including Clearwater Gas, Clearwater Police, Public Utilities and Solid Waste and Recycling, to support customer communications, event planning, emergency response, and project planning activities.
Cayenta has been the City's utility management solution for more than 24 years, with configurations tailored to meet specific customer and billing requirements. Transitioning to an alternative system would require a substantial financial investment, a multi-year implementation effort, retraining of staff, and a disruption in operations. Continuing with Cayenta ensures cost savings, operational efficiency, and continuity of service.
Utility Customer Service recommends continuing the use of Cayenta’s Utility Billing Management System, as it is a mission-critical system and has been established as the standard solution for all billable city utility services. The total cost for regular annual support and maintenance over the five-year term beginning November 1, 2025, through October 31, 2030, is $715,241.13, with annual increases capped at a maximum of 5% as outlined below:
• 11/01/2025 - 10/31/2026: $129,440.62
• 11//012026 - 10/31/2027: $135,912.65
• 11/01/2027 - 10/31/2028: $142,708.28
• 11/01/2028 - 10/31/2029: $149,843.70
• 11/01/2029 - 10/31/2030: $157,335.88
Additionally, professional services will be utilized for integration enhancements supporting the City’s asset management system (Trimble Unity) and to improve accounting report reconciliation between Cayenta and the City’s financial management system (Tyler MUNIS). These professional services are estimated to not exceed $247,410.00 and will be used over the first three years of the service agreement.
The City’s Utility Customer Service Department also plans to invest in Cayenta’s hosted AI agent services (Cayla AI) to augment the City’s call center capacity and expand citizen engagement capabilities in support of Citywide service operations. Planned expenditures for these services are estimated at $230,222.00 over the five-year term, based on an assumed AI call engagement of up to 40% of the City’s average call volume. This volume may be adjusted by call center management based on performance or operational needs, and actual costs may vary during the contract term. Should the City elect to discontinue the use of AI services, no further hosting or service charges will be incurred.
The AI Agent and Asset Management integrations are built on Cayenta’s proprietary product code environment (and future cloud environment) and are therefore not practicable for a third-party vendor to develop, hence these services are impractical to bid.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT:
Funds for fiscal year 2025/26 have been budgeted in Utility Customer Service (UCS) operating cost code 5559884-530500, maintenance contracts, for the annual maintenance agreement and cost code 5559887-530100, professional services, for funding of billable support services.
Funding for costs related to the Cayla AI Agent services will be paid initially from capital project 94829, CIS Upgrades, with future year costs requested as part of the annual budget process in UCS operating cost-code 5559887-530100, professional services.
Funding for future years will be requested as part of the annual budget process. Utility Customer Service is an Internal Service Fund of the which supports customer service and billing functions of the City’s utility enterprise funds.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY:
This purchase will support all the objectives of a High-Performance Government, as well as Superior Public Service.
