Software boosts citizens’ access to parks department

The Boulder City Parks and Recreation Department is using new software that will eventually allow parents to sign their children up for programs online.

The software, provided by Tyler Technologies Inc., has allowed parks and recreation department staff to focus more on developing programs instead of punching information into computers.

Tyler Technologies recently recognized the city for implementing its new program. Boulder City helped the company roll out its new program by becoming one of the first municipalities to use it.

“Eventually, customers will be able to sign up for classes through our website,” Parks and Recreation Department Secretary Julie Calloway said. “It will be a more user-friendly approach to offer our services.”

Calloway said the new program, which the city launched in December, has made it easier for the department to focus on more important projects. The goal is to make program sign-up processes more cost-efficient, she added.

“We might not notice that this second, but in the future, I absolutely anticipate that,” Calloway said. “It’s expedited our day-to-day activities so that we have more time to do long-term planning and customer service.”

Financial Director Shirley Hughes passed the idea along to the parks and recreation department to help staff become more efficient.

Hughes said customers will be able to rent city facilities, sign up and pay for classes online in a few months instead of having to come into City Hall.

The city also upgraded its website, and residents will be able to pay their utility bills online within the next few months.

“I have a staff that I want to use their brains more, rather than their fingers,” Hughes said. “There’s a lot of stuff we do manually that we can do automated. It’ll free up staff time so they can do more planning rather than punching numbers into the computer.”

Contact reporter Steven Slivka at sslivka@bouldercityreview.com or 702-586-9401. Follow him on Twitter @StevenSlivka.