Council asks for demo before approving threefold-cost BSNA software switch

Town staff presented a proposal to migrate the town’s records and financial systems from Boyce to BSNA, a cloud-based municipal software platform. Staff said BSNA offers continuous backups (every three minutes), multiuser access controlled by permissions, built-in payment processing that could eliminate the town’s InvoiceCloud contract, and work-order capabilities that could serve multiple departments.

Council members expressed concern about the higher recurring cost. One council member said the BSNA annual price was “more than three times the amount” of the town’s current spend and asked for justification of the premium. Staff and members also discussed a one-time migration fee the transcript records as $48,000 and noted potential security and data-protection considerations tied to a vendor-hosted system.

Members asked whether staying with Boyce was an option; staff said Boyce currently allows towns to remain but that Boyce appears unlikely to deliver a cloud product after its transaction with BSNA. Several council members suggested scheduling a demonstration of BSNA at the next council meeting so members can see the product before committing. Staff said if signed in the next few weeks the vendor could begin migration and a go-live by August was possible; staff also noted the town’s InvoiceCloud contract runs through October, which affects the timing of any switch.

No formal action was taken; council directed staff to arrange a demo and to return with more detailed cost and timing information.