Approving a contract with Civic Plus for agenda management, boards and commissions, digital accessibility tools, and records request management services.

The City is proposing to transition its Council agenda management, boards and commissions, and records request management services to CivicPlus, consistent with the enterprise-wide decision to move away from Granicus products. The primary considerations supporting this transition are digital accessibility, compliance with applicable Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 standards, operational efficiency, and customer service.

Agenda Management 

The current Granicus Peak platform has presented ongoing challenges in meeting WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards. Staff are required to devote significant time to manually remediate documents to improve their accessibility prior to publication. In addition, the City has been unable to publish a complete Agenda Packet for public access through the Granicus Peak platform, resulting in significant feedback from the public regarding the change in how meeting materials are presented. The current publication process has also frequently resulted in broken or non-functioning links, which Granicus has been unable to consistently diagnose and resolve.

Transitioning to CivicPlus will provide the City with technology designed to support applicable accessibility standards while significantly reducing the staff time required to prepare and publish Council and Boards and Commissions agendas. The platform will also restore the City's ability to publish complete Agenda Packets, providing the public with a more consistent and user-friendly way to access meeting materials. Selecting a platform that supports WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards will advance the City's accessibility goals and reduce barriers to public access to government information. In addition, CivicPlus provides language translation capabilities for agenda packets, further expanding access to public information for Rochester residents. Subject to approval, implementation of the new platform is anticipated to begin January 1, 2027.

Boards and Commissions

The team is also proposing to transition its Boards and Commissions application and management process to CivicPlus. The CivicPlus interface is designed to support applicable WCAG accessibility standards, providing a more accessible application process and helping ensure that all residents have an equitable opportunity to apply for service on a City board or commission.

CivicPlus DocAccess

The team is also proposing adding CivicPlus DocAccess to further enhance the accessibility of documents published across the City's website. This investment supports the City's commitment to providing multiple, equitable means of accessing public information and strengthens its efforts to comply with applicable digital accessibility requirements and WCAG 2.1 standards.

As the City continues to expand its digital delivery of public information, ensuring that documents are accessible is an important component of meeting its legal and accessibility responsibilities. DocAccess provides tools to identify and remediate accessibility issues in documents, helping staff produce materials that are more accessible to individuals who use assistive technologies, including screen readers. The product has also been reviewed and endorsed by the City's accessibility team.

Records Request Management

As part of the transition, CivicPlus will provide the City with a complimentary first year of NextRequest, its public records request management platform. NextRequest supports applicable WCAG accessibility requirements and would provide the City with a more accessible platform for managing public records requests.

The City currently operates two records request modules—one for Police records and one for general City records. Transitioning these services to NextRequest is expected to yield approximately $25,000 in annual savings. In addition to the cost savings, NextRequest provides enhanced tools for identifying and removing duplicate emails and other redundant records. These capabilities are expected to significantly reduce the amount of staff time required to review and process voluminous records requests.

Implementation

Transitioning to CivicPlus will require coordinated planning, system configuration, data migration, testing, training, and implementation. The City will work collaboratively with CivicPlus throughout the transition to ensure the new system is appropriately configured to support the City's Council agenda and legislative workflows, Boards and Commissions processes, and public records request requirements.

The implementation process will also include appropriate testing of accessibility functionality and workflows to support compliance with applicable WCAG 2.1 standards. Careful planning and phased implementation will be used to minimize disruption to ongoing Council, Board, Commission, and public records operations while ensuring staff are adequately trained and prepared to use the new platforms.

Overall, the transition to CivicPlus will provide the City with a more accessible, efficient, and sustainable technology environment for delivering public information and services. The proposed changes are expected to reduce staff workload, improve the public's access to government information, enhance the customer experience, and generate ongoing cost savings for the City.

The transition to Civic Plus products, including DocAccess, represents an investment in digital accessibility, regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and equitable public service. The City has an obligation to provide meaningful and equitable access to public information and services, including Council/Board & Commission agendas, supporting documents, and meeting materials, for individuals with disabilities. In addition to core agenda and meeting management features like automated approval routing and live meeting controls, the transition provides key upgraded tools: DocAccess for website-wide WCAG 2.1 document accessibility remediation, NextRequest with advanced de-duplication for streamlined records management, and a dedicated Boards & Commissions public portal for automated vacancy and term tracking.

March 26, 2020: Contract with Gov QA approved

May 3, 2021: Contract with Granicus Peak approved

May 2, 2024: Contract with Gov QA approved for the Police Department

Civic Plus is providing Rochester with four free months of service to cover our implementation period with the initial payment being deferred until January of 2027.  The first payment of $76,195 ($55,170 for service and $21,025 for implementation) will be paid from 2027 department budgets.

Civic Plus is also providing a free year of records management services. After year one, there is a savings of over $25,000 per year in the records request management software.

Transitioning to Civic Plus reduces long-term operational costs and replaces a fragmented multi-vendor environment with predictable enterprise pricing. 

Staff evaluated multiple software alternatives and benchmarked other municipalities; Civic Plus was determined to be the best-suited, most scalable platform for large cities with complex workflows and high-volume accessibility demands. At comparable recurring costs to existing Granicus and GovQA fees, the Civic Plus suite preserves long-term budget stability while expanding enterprise capabilities.

In addition to core agenda and meeting management features like automated approval routing and live meeting controls, the transition provides key upgraded tools: DocAccess for website-wide WCAG 2.1 document accessibility remediation, NextRequest with advanced de-duplication for streamlined records management, and a dedicated Boards & Commissions public portal for automated vacancy and term tracking.

No alternate actions are suggested at this time.