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County board OKs software purchases

NEW ULM — Brown County Commissioners approved a number of software purchases to update Brown County Human Services and Assessor’s Offices Tuesday.

Commissioners unanimously approved a proposal to purchase a $208,606 electronic document management system (EDMS) from Next Chapter Technology for 1,050 child support and 2,800 income maintenance case files, motion by Commissioner Scott Windschitl, seconded by Commissioner Dean Simonsen.

Annual system maintenance will be $33,559. Funding for the purchases come from Human Services Fund Reserves.

Brown County Human Services Director Tom Henderson said the software will replace paper files.

“It’s sure a whole lot easier than what we do now. And the program works with what we have now,” Henderson said.

Brown County Administrator Chuck Enter said the purchase is a “unique product that doesn’t require competitive bids.”

CaseWorks Cloud Central serves as a platform for new case file transfers, cleans up case files by moving closed case and non-current documents to the Cloud, said Next Chapter Representative Mike Sexe.

Commissioners also:

• By a 4-1 vote with Commissioner Windschitl dissenting, approved a $7,000 Beacon online property information for the Brown County Assessor’s Office. Motion by Commissioner Simonsen, seconded by Commissioner Tony Berg, the resolution includes $7,000 set-up and $8,700 annual maintenance fees through Dec. 31, 2024. The Brown County Land Records Fund (LRF) with a 2019 year-end cash balance of about $27,000, can be used to fund the purchases.

Brown County Assessor Anne Grunert said many area counties used Beacon software for public and county staff access to property information. Other software benefits include accurate information for complex properties, easy to understand tax/valuation information, less calls and decreased office traffic seeking property information and time savings.

Grunert said the software includes links to pay property taxes, view previous property tax statements, print mailing labels and apps are available for other uses including other county departments that work with property.

• Unanimously approved a $2,500 grant request by Lutheran Social Services (LSS) for financial counseling in 2020, motion by Commissioner Simonsen, seconded by Commissioner Dave Borchert.

In a May 1 letter to Brown County Human Services Director Tom Henderson, LCC Manager Julia Zachariason wrote appointment numbers indicate the need for services continues. She added that funding will help ensure program availability for those seeking financial options and information from a trustworthy, reputable source.

The action is subject to final 2020 budget adoption in December 2019.

• A Supervised Independent Living Services (SILS) contract approval to LDR, Habilitative Services and MBW Co. $40,245, motion by Commissioner Windschitl, seconded by Commissioner Borchert. A 2.5 percent increase was granted this year. Expenditures this contract year for the three companies are $15,881; $27,274; and $40,245 respectively.

• The 2019 South Central Community-Based Initiative contract, motion by Commissioner Berg, seconded by Commissioner Borchert.

• Approval of Findings of Fact of Lat 11A to County Ditch 5 and CD 5, motion by Commissioner Simonsen, seconded by Commissioner Berg.

• Approve Redetermination of Benefits for CD 5, motion by Commissioner Simonsen, seconded by Commissioners Berg; and CD 72, motion by Commissioner Windschitl, seconded by Commissioner Simonsen.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.

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