Electronic Permitting

[CGoodwater]

Does anyone use a program other than Tyler for their electronic permitting? If so, does it generate all the permits you need or does the customer have to do these separately? We use Tyler and that's how it is for us, it feels very inconvenient and I'm just wondering if there is another option out there that we can bring to our supervisors?

Thanks!

 

[johnreynolds]

I run civicreview.com but it really depends on what the priorities are. Each software has different angles. Some are more GIS-centric, other are tied in closely with accounting systems (like Tyler), others prioritize customer experience, etc. I'll be happy to share what I know about the landscape if you have some "must-haves" in mind. Trying not to play the sales person and just be of help here.

 

[CGoodwater]

I run civicreview.com but it really depends on what the priorities are. Each software has different angles. Some are more GIS-centric, other are tied in closely with accounting systems (like Tyler), others prioritize customer experience, etc. I'll be happy to share what I know about the landscape if you have some "must-haves" in mind. Trying not to play the sales person and just be of help here.

Thanks John! We use it for our building, planning, and stormwater permitting and want customers to be able to pay online as well, so that's likely why they picked Tyler, but we've heard there are other options that can work with that cashiering system as well that are more pre-built and more attuned to the permitting needs automatically without having to modify it a ton.

 

[johnreynolds]

Well, in terms of working with the cashiering system, what we've found the priority is tracking the right distribution codes when payments come in (like, being able to separate building permit fees from plan review fees, etc). Usually that satisfies most finance departments. This can usually be done through proper reporting of the software or, some payment systems, like Xpress Billpay even distribute that directly when payment happens, which is really nice.

Our own software does permitting, but when you mentioned stormwater, that makes me wonder if you're looking for some asset management and public works as well. In that case, our software is not the right fit. CityWorks might be a good one to check out if you want permitting + public works (they're an ESRI partner - heavily GIS-centric).

 

[CGoodwater]

Well, in terms of working with the cashiering system, what we've found the priority is tracking the right distribution codes when payments come in (like, being able to separate building permit fees from plan review fees, etc). Usually that satisfies most finance departments. This can usually be done through proper reporting of the software or, some payment systems, like Xpress Billpay even distribute that directly when payment happens, which is really nice.

Our own software does permitting, but when you mentioned stormwater, that makes me wonder if you're looking for some asset management and public works as well. In that case, our software is not the right fit. CityWorks might be a good one to check out if you want permitting + public works (they're an ESRI partner - heavily GIS-centric).

Thanks! This was really helpful! I will check out CityWorks. We do use GIS and Blue Beam with our current system so this may be a good fit.