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Agreement with Happy Software, LLC <br />May 4, 2021 <br />Page 2 <br />6 <br />8 <br />1 <br />(Exhibit 2). The total cost of the agreement over a three-year period is not to exceed <br />$200,000. This will allow staff to request for technical assistance from Happy Software, <br />such as customizations of the software or additional services for owners, tenants and <br />applicants. <br />Since June 2020, the Housing Authority has used the software provided by Happy <br />Software, LLC for the administration of the Housing Choice Voucher Program. This <br />software is essential to the operation of the Housing Authority and its obligation to <br />electronically transfer data to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development <br />(HUD) on a regular basis and disburse millions of dollars in rental assistance funds every <br />month. The software tracks all program information on thousands of applicants, <br />participants, and owners served by the program; schedules and maintains records on all <br />Housing Quality Standards inspections; performs income and payment calculations; and <br />creates and transmits all HUD-required reports. In addition to the day-to-day use of the <br />software, the annual license includes system upgrades, software updates, all pertinent <br />user manuals, staff training, as well as the Housing Authority’s applicant, owner and <br />tenant on-line portals. <br />Staff is not recommending approval of the two lower cost proposals for two reasons. First, <br />staff have received an outstanding quality of service from Happy Software, LLC over the <br />last year. The software has a user-friendly interface and staff have been very satisfied <br />with their quality of service. It is a good product being used by hundreds of other housing <br />authorities across the country. Second, there are large hidden costs not reflected in the <br />other proposals for staff time and training to transition to a new housing management <br />software. Specifically, the transition to a new software would entail at least a six-month <br />process of training and cross-training fifteen Housing Authority employees. This includes <br />a week-long training of all fifteen employees (40 hours x 15 employees) and two weeks <br />of additional training and assistance for two supervisory-level employees (80 hours x 2 <br />employees). The total number of staff hours required would be approximately 680 hours. <br />This does not include unanticipated costs for assistance from our Information Technology <br />Department and Finance and Management Services Agency staff. Therefore, although <br />the proposal with Happy Software, LLC is higher than the other two proposals, staff values <br />their high quality of service and wants to avoid the large hidden costs required on the <br />backend to switch to a new software provider. <br />FISCAL IMPACT <br />Funding for the Happy Software, LLC agreement is available in the FY 2020-2021 <br />Housing Authority Other Contractual Services account (no. 14018760-62300) and will be <br />budgeted in future fiscal years for expenditure as shown in the table below: <br />