By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg City Manager Sarah Purdy is urging city council to invest in new municipal accounting software that would provide better security and more transparency for taxpayers.

The software, from Tyler Technologies, would cost the city about $173,000 in the first two years and about $40,000 per year for future years. The initial contract would be annually renewed for five years under the proposal. The annual fee would be about $20,000 more than city currently pays for its dated software.

Purdy says the software would provide the city with better security. Earlier this year the city was hit by hackers, which cost the municipality about $20,000.

Tyler offers both onsite and cloud-based hosting.

Purdy said the cost for the software is included in the current budget, and while she can not guarantee savings for the city through efficiency she believes there would be some savings. Purdy suggested the new software could allow for further cuts through attrition as it would eliminate duplicative work and save time for employees.

The company has a proven track record, according to Purdy, who said she used similar technology at her previous position as a county administrator. St. Lawrence County, Canton, Massena and Potsdam also have contracts with Tyler Technologies.

The software would streamline the cities account record keeping and make all of the information easy to search. This function could also be used by city residents. People would be able to find out what taxes they owe, make payments online and even download receipts. Furthermore alerts can be set up, so taxpayers can set up reminders for tax due dates.

Tyler also recently secured a $20.5 million contract with the state to design new assessment software, which helps assessors determine property values. This technology is being testing about 15 New York state municipalities and will likely be used statewide in coming years.

If the city were to sign an agreement with Tyler, it is likely that this software could be easily integrated once it goes live statewide.

Currently the city uses a software program called Payroll, and it is the only municipal customer the company has.

City Comptroller Tim Johnson says updates have become less frequent and he fears support for the service will likely continue to dwindle. He said the city will need to find a replacement and Tyler Technologies is among the best rated.

Tyler serves 150 municipal clients in New York State and 15,000 nationwide. Terry Quinn, senior accounting executive with Tyler, told the council Tyler has a 97 percent customer retention rate.

City council took no action on the issue Monday.