TEA Winner: Efficient Management Supports Community Growth

Organization Profile

• Industry: Municipal
• Location: Roosevelt, Utah
• Number of Employees: 205
• Population: 7,500
• Tyler Client Since: 2022
• Tyler Products/Solutions: ERP Pro, Content Manager, Meeting Manager, Notify, Payments, Time & Attendance
• Website: rooseveltcity.com

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Challenges

Roosevelt, Utah, is a city whose citizens have a history of making do with what they have due to their remote location at the center of the Uintah Basin. The Roosevelt City Corporation, which manages finances, utilities, and more, served their community well with the tools they had for as long as they could, but when their software bogged down processes and cost more time than they could spare, they knew it was time for a change.

Brock Arnold, the city’s human resources and IT manager, described their previous software as archaic and difficult to use. “It was really great for its time, but it didn’t evolve to meet client needs,” he said. And as the city’s needs grew, the software’s limitations became more apparent. “We only have about 7,000 residents, but we have a large capital projects list. We just weren’t getting the service we needed.”

The software made following their procurement policy burdensome, requiring duplicate data entry to make a purchase, get approvals, and process payments. Changing documents such as requisitions, purchase orders, and invoices was especially time-consuming. “If you can imagine a stop motion video going in reverse, that’s how making changes worked,” Arnold explained. “It couldn’t physically handle the way the procurement policy is written.”

To cope with the administrative workload, the city considered hiring additional employees — an option that would cost approximately $180,000 annually. “It’s just two of us managing the city’s finances, maintaining the procurement policy, and doing HR. We just got tired of not having time to get everything done,” Arnold said.

Solution

As the city searched for a new solution, they turned to their neighbors for recommendations. “We found out a lot of school districts in Utah use Tyler Technologies,” Arnold said. They decided to look into the company’s offerings and found the solution they were looking for in Tyler’s ERP Pro software.

“We liked the cloud accessibility — the ability to access ERP Pro remotely and to take pictures of invoices. Instead of having piles of paperwork on my desk, we can keep track of them digitally,” Arnold said. Cutting down on paper also prevented important documents from getting lost. “To submit a grant request, your invoice goes through several different people. When the auditor comes and asks you where an invoice is, you don’t have to worry that you can’t find it because somebody took it and made a copy.”

Results

From the first time Arnold processed payables in ERP Pro, a previously two-day process was cut down to two hours. “We were immediately able to follow the procurement policy and put the work back in the hands of the employees,” he said. Since the city’s processes have become more efficient, Arnold and his team have been able to prioritize projects that offer greater benefits to their community and city staff. “I’ve been able to modernize some of our IT systems and spend more time with the employees,” he explained. “As the HR manager, my job is to have a finger on the pulse of what the employees need and want. When I was spending two or three days a week just trying to process payables, I couldn’t focus on the employees like I should.”

Arnold also heard many times that city Finance Director Rhonda Goodrich has experienced similar benefits: “She can be interactive with all the department heads, City Council, and the city manager and help them see their budgets in real time.” He described how Goodrich has also empowered others to use ERP Pro independently, leaving her with more time to focus on grants, loans, and strategy. “She can be a true finance director instead of a data entry clerk.”

Process efficiencies, reduced paperwork, and budget transparency have helped the city of Roosevelt make better use of their resources. “We’re all taxpayers, and I don’t want that money to go to waste. When we have better data, we can make better decisions,” Arnold said. “It’s not always the right answer to hire more people. Think about how many secondary water systems you could put in for $180,000. Anything we can do to be more efficient allows us to better support our Parks and Recreation and Public Works departments who are directly impacting and working with the citizens.”