The city of Aurora is looking at a software program to better track both the grants it receives, and the grants it awards to other agencies.
The city is considering spending $102,800 on a five-year subscription for grant management software called WebGrant.
Aldermen on the City Council’s Finance Committee on Thursday recommended a contract with Dulles Technology Partners, Inc., of Virginia, for the program. The full council will consider the contract at its Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday evening.
Julie Frankino, the city’s grant writer, said the city chose Dulles’ WebGrant program from 17 proposals, whittled down to four finalists, that came through a bid process by Marketplace.city, Aurora’s third-party bid consultant.
“They were able to provide the features we requested, and they were the lowest cost,” she said. “They were 20% lower than the closest competitor.”
The five-year license would cost the city $50,000 in the first year, then $13,200 in the second through fifth years of the contract, she said.
The software would help the city track compliance necessary for the grants it receives; the city received more than $7 million in grants in 2023 alone, Frankino said.
“Virtually every grant request is a project with complicated requirements,” she said.
In addition, the city awarded about $4.4 million in grants for 2024 through the quality of life grants, the Community Development Block Grant program and the HOME and HOME-ARP programs.
Complying with grants and checking compliance for grants awarded has been handled individually by different departments, which is inefficient and prone to errors, Frankino said.
With the WebGrant program, the information would be in a single source, she said.
When asked by Ald. Ron Woerman, at large, a Finance Committee member, if this could open up more grants to the city, Frankino said that is a potential outcome.
Alex Alexandrou, the city’s chief management officer, said the new software program is “a fundamental building block.”
“It will mean a lot better communication, a lot better tracking,” he said. “It will allow us to vet faster, and to respond faster.”
slord@tribpub.com
