sr-061212-3eCity Council Meeting: June 12, 2012
Agenda Item: _
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Andy Agle, Director of Housing and Economic Development
Subject: Sole Source Purchase of Housing Authority Software
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the award of a sole source purchase
order to HAPPY Software, Inc., a New York -based company, in an amount not to
exceed $150,000 for the purchase of Housing Pro 8 modules, up to 3 years of support,
training, data conversion and custom programming to assist the Housing Authority's
administration of the Housing Choice Voucher Program.
Executive Summary
The purchase of the full suite of HAPPY Software's Housing Pro 8 modules would
provide the Housing Authority a modern toolset to better serve tenants and property
owners. Numerous processes that are currently completed manually would become
automated. The proposed purchase of Housing Pro 8 would allow online
communication and digital document transmission between program participants and
the Housing Authority, integrated with electronic file storage. A sole source purchase is
justified because Housing Pro 8's tenant - focused, online communication solution is a
proprietary product. Additionally, HAPPY Software's Housing Pro 8 waitlist module and
online portal were selected from responses to a March 15, 2010 Request for Proposals
(RFP) for a waitlist solution and are currently utilized by the Housing Authority.
Background
The Housing Authority administers the federal "Section 8" housing voucher program,
which provides rental subsidies to extremely low- and very -low income households.
Existing software to implement the program is primarily used for tracking participant
data, calculating rent subsidy payments and sending information to the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which provides the program
funding. Rental subsidies, which are capped at a set amount based on the number of
bedrooms in the apartment being rented, cover the difference between 30 percent of the
tenant's income and the apartment's rent. The tenant's portion of the rent is determined
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by verifying income sources as well as potential deductions. The rent calculation is an
important and time consuming part of the Housing Specialists' workload. Tenants are
required to report all changes of income within 10 days and their incomes are recertified
on a yearly basis whether there have been any reported changes or not.
Currently all tenant income documentation must be brought in person to the Housing
Authority. The records for each tenant household can be very large and a significant
amount of staff time is spent organizing and accessing them. In complex tenant
situations, multiple staff members often need simultaneous access to a file.
Additionally, files need to be regularly purged of older information to keep them a
manageable size. The purged files are then transferred into off -site storage for the
legally required retention period. The purging process is time - consuming and due to
off -site retention, it takes at least 24 hours to retrieve urgently needed files. In addition
to the costs of maintaining on- and off -site file storage, there are costs associated with
the production and mailing of forms to tenants who then need to bring in the completed
forms to the office. If there are any forgotten forms or supplemental documents, the
tenant must make a return trip to the Housing Authority office.
Discussion
The ideal software solution for the Housing Authority is one that targets both the issues
of file storage and document transmission. The only product that offers these features
in a fully integrated software suite is HAPPY Software's proprietary product Housing Pro
8. Staff reviewed a variety of software products to perform the required functions.
Happy Software's Housing Pro 8 provides the best option at a reasonable price.
Housing Pro 8 is the only Section 8 software on the market with an integrated online
portal for tenants. The unique tenant portion of the online portal allows users to update
their contact information, family composition, and income documentation, giving the
Housing Authority the flexibility to conduct annual re- certifications and interim
adjustments without an in -office visit. This would be a valuable upgrade in service for
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disabled tenants and tenants with special needs whose caseworkers are required to
take part in all interactions with the Housing Authority
In addition to the tenant portion of the online portal, there is also a property owner
interface. Property owners can update their contact information, schedule inspections,
and review their history of received payments. A beneficial feature of the online system
is that it allows property owners to list units for rent. This listing service is accessible
only to current Section 8 tenants and provides them with the opportunity to review
current vacancies without having to come to the office.
Recreating the functionality of Housing Pro 8's online portal would be costly and likely
without the benefits of full integration into existing Section 8 software. The cost for
Housing Pro 8 includes all web hosting services by HAPPY Software, thus precluding
the need for any City IT infrastructure and related costs.
The Housing Authority already uses Housing Pro 8's waitlist module which allows
applicants to view and submit information updates to the Housing Authority online. In
2010, the Housing Authority conducted an RFP for waitlist management software with
an online application system. HAPPY Software's Housing Pro 8 waitlist module and
online portal proved to be the superior product. With the adoption of the remaining
Housing Pro 8 modules, the Housing Authority would be able to seamlessly work with
current tenants, property owners, and applicants.
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Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The total contract amount to be awarded to HAPPY Software, Inc. is not to exceed
$150,000. Funds are available in the FY11 -12 budget at account R155005.589000.
Prepared by: Ben Andrews, Technical Staff Assistant
Andy Agle, Director
Housing and Econo
Development
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Forwarded to Council:
Rod Gould
City Manager