Finance and Economic Development Committee
Comité des finances et du développement économique
and Council / et au Conseil
22 March 2011 / le 22 mars 2011
Submitted by/Soumis par : Marian Simulik, City Treasurer/Trésorière municipale
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Ken Hughes, Deputy Treasurer, Revenue/ Revenus municipaux, Trésorier adjoint, Recettes Finance Department/Service des finances
613-580-2424 ext./ poste 13485, Ken.Hughes@ottawa.ca
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Ref N°: ACS2011-CMR-FIN-0007 |
That the Finance and Economic Development Committee recommend Council approve a one‑time budget requirement in the amount of $400,000 as identified in this report.
RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des finances et du développement économique recommande au Conseil d’approuver un besoin budgétaire ponctuel d’un montant de 400 000 $, comme il est déterminé dans le présent rapport.
The 2011 operating budget, as adopted by Council on March 8, 2011, included a $2.8 million Provision for Onetime and Unforeseen Account to provide funding for one-time operating expenditures and unanticipated operating expenditures that may occur during the year.
Examples of items that would be funded from this account include, but are not limited to:
All funds requested from this account are to be separately approved by Council. The purpose of this report is to request one-time funding for the replacement of the City’s cash registers.
The City of Ottawa collects payments for a variety of products and services at multiple site locations. The Client Service Centres (CSC), Provincial Offences Offices, and Building Code Services currently use Datasym cash registers as a point of sale tool to track various transactions. Some examples of cash register transactions are:
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· Birth Registrations |
· Open-Air Fire Permits |
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· Building Permit Applications |
· Parking Cards, Permits and Lots |
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· Cat & Dog Registration |
· Parking Ticket Payment |
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· Civil Marriage Ceremonies |
· Property Tax Payment |
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· Commissioner of Oaths |
· Provincial Offences Payment |
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· Death Registrations and Burial Permits |
· Recreation and Registration Information |
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· Development Applications |
· Water and Sewer Bill Payment |
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· Marriage Licenses |
· Water Well Testing |
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· OC Transpo Bus Tickets and Passes |
· Zoning Information |
During 2010 a total of $133 million was collected and data electronically transmitted at all the Client Service Centres and just over $10 million from the Provincial Offences Offices. Approximately $200 million in transactions per year are processed by cash registers. The cash registers in use were originally purchased in or about 1998 and are over 13 years old. Industry standard puts a typical register life span at 7 years. Datsym Inc., the company which manufactured these cash registers, was ordered into bankruptcy in December 2009. As a result, some of the parts are discontinued and will become increasingly difficult to obtain. At some point parts will be unavailable.
There is only one Datasym distributor in the area who continues to provide service on these registers. The City’s current service contract expires in August, 2011 and can renew this service contract as long as this provider is willing and able to service these Datasym registers. This presents risk to the City.
As the existing inventory of cash registers and parts decline, alternative processes will have to be used to record the receipt of payments. These alternative processes will not be as efficient and will negatively impact customer service. Due to their age, the cash registers have been breaking down more frequently. Some have lost some of their features and functionality requiring “work arounds” and “band-aid” solutions to allow for their continued operation. During 2010, 125 cash register service calls were opened, with an average increase in service calls of 33% each year since 2005.
Cash registers are an integral part of service delivery offered at the various City centres. When a cash register is out of service, it limits the ability for clients to pay for the specific City services because of delays and in cases of a small service center, may oblige them to return at a later date which has a negative impact on both customer satisfaction and the City’s image.
Replacement of the existing registers is inevitable and presents an opportunity to not only minimize the City’s risk but to also update the technology and improve service delivery to create a more positive customer experience and improve public satisfaction in the area of cash transactions. More and more, the citizens of Ottawa are expecting the City to provide a comparable service to any retail outlet and installing updated cash registers are in line with the service excellence philosophy.
The Finance Department is therefore requesting $400,000 to replace its inventory of approximately 35 cash registers with new, more modern point of sale system with more sophisticated technology. This updated technology will shorten the current transaction processing time and eliminate the risk of errors caused by the current cash register process and communication protocol with the sub-systems.
The replacement of the cash registers with a Point of Sale (POS) Cash Register system will enable more functionality and will provide a better platform for conducting business and improve customer service and satisfaction. It is recommended the entire cash register inventory be replaced at the same time as the integration, technological support and staff effort to support multiple software and back end interfaces is cumbersome and less efficient.
Some benefits and efficiencies are outlined below:
For these reasons, the Finance Department recommends funding the replacement of these machines from the Onetime and Unforeseen Provision Account this year. If the funds are approved, the purchase of the cash registers will follow the provisions of the City’s Purchasing By-law.
Not applicable.
No public consultation is required.
Not applicable.
There are no legal/risk management implications of implementing the recommendations in this report.
Information Technology Services (ITS) currently supports a software application integrated with the Datasym cash registers. This application will require some modifications to support the new cash registers. The extent of the changes required will depend on the design and capabilities of the new cash register selected. ITS will be involved in the procurement process to ensure a smooth transition.
The 2011 approved budget for the Unforeseen Provision Account was $2.8 million. If Committee and Council approve the report recommendation, the remaining balance in the account would be reduced to $2.4 million. Funds will be deposited into a new capital project for 2011 to be opened upon Committee and Council approval of this report.
Not applicable.
Subject to Committee and Council approval, the Finance Department will make the necessary budget transfers from the Unforeseen Provision Account to the Revenue Branch.