District Heights, Maryland Upgrades to the Cloud with OpenGov ERP to Modernize the City's Financial Technology

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May 29, 2024, 09:00 ET

Partnership signals a broader effort to revolutionize the organization, meet resident expectations, and drive employee efficiency

SAN FRANCISCO, May 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Shortly after the City of District Heights, Md. adopted its fiscal year 2025 budget, the City also announced that it is making an investment to modernize and upgrade its accounting software. The City is switching from small business accounting program QuickBooks to OpenGov Financials, the leading cloud enterprise resource planning software (ERP) for local government. This makes District Heights the first city in Maryland to move to a modern cloud ERP purpose-built for government.

The City of District Heights is replacing paper records and antiquated processes with modern financial practices and cloud software. Facing more requests for financial transparency from residents as well as a greater need for team collaboration within the Finance Department, District Heights needed a single budgeting and financial solution with web-based public reporting functionality that would also give departments the autonomy to make funding decisions and set priorities on their own.

"In District Heights, our vision is to provide excellent resident services through cost-efficient, evidence-based programs that are sustainable and accessible. Our public servants partner with solutions like OpenGov to help improve the quality of life for our residents. I'm eager to publish our first online, public-facing budget book," said City of District Heights Mayor Cynthia Miller.

"District Heights is going through a major transformation to modernize our entire organization from systems that just don't match the size, needs, and sophistication of our community," said David Street, City Manager of District Heights, Md. "I'm most excited for OpenGov's public reporting portal—how easy it will be for our residents to understand the City's budget will significantly improve our communications. In addition, our department leaders having the ability to make project priorities and decisions based on budget within a single platform will help us operate more efficiently."

By upgrading to OpenGov ERP, the District Heights Finance team now will be able to:

Operate efficiently and collaboratively within a single web-based platform, which eliminates challenges with version control and siloed departments.
Adapt to change by giving budget autonomy to department leaders, who can make in-the-moment decisions and prioritize capital projects through the platform's intuitive user interface.
Strengthen public trust by publishing the budget book on the web in a consumable format for residents to understand how their tax dollars are spent.

The challenges facing Maryland echo what's happening in local governments across the country, such as Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia. Municipalities using outdated systems can't meet community expectations, face greater cybersecurity risks, experience a wider talent gap, and lower morale among public servants. Leaders like the City of District Heights have partnered with OpenGov to update systems with transparency natively built into every step of the process—and award-winning customer service, including six 2024 Stevie Awards for Customer Service.

District Heights is not the only city prioritizing digital transformation and cross-department collaboration projects this year. According to the State of Local Government Survey 2024, adopting process changes and new technology to improve collaboration are among the top priorities for public servants.

"Our mission at OpenGov is to power more effective and accountable government. We aim to solve common pain points that plague mission-critical workflows with modern, easy-to-use, cloud software," said Zac Bookman, co-founder and CEO of OpenGov. "As a native Marylander myself, I'm especially pleased to introduce the state to the OpenGov ERP. District Heights is raising the bar for public accounting and budgeting for the state of Maryland."

District Heights joins more than 1,900 state, county, and local governments using OpenGov to operate efficiently, adapt to change, and strengthen public trust. Learn more about OpenGov Financials.

About OpenGov
OpenGov is the leader in modern cloud software for cities, counties, state agencies, and special districts. With a mission to power a more effective and accountable government, OpenGov serves more than 1,900 public sector leaders and their organizations. OpenGov is built exclusively for the unique budgeting and planning, accounting, permitting and licensing, procurement, asset management, and tax and revenue needs of the public sector. The OpenGov Cloud empowers organizations to operate more efficiently, adapt to change, and strengthen trust with the communities they serve. Learn more or request a demo at opengov.com.

SOURCE OpenGov, Inc.