Panel OKs $17 Million in bonds for computer system to replace POINTS

Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee agreed Wednesday to issue $17 million in bonds to replace the state Revenue Department’s failed computer system, called POINTS.

Gazette State Bureau

Despite the millions of dollars spent on the department’s Process Oriented Integrated Tax System, the state cannot salvage the system, lawmakers have said. The system has never worked as it was supposed to.

The Martz administration abandoned the second phase of the POINTS software system in November, largely for financial reasons. It pulled the plug on first phase of POINTS in February, after it became clear that lawmakers were prepared to scrap the system because of corrupted data.

"POINTS will never become stable," said Rep. Jeff Pattison, R-Glasgow. "You’re just throwing money on a dead horse."
onthenet
HB 762

Democrats on the committee objected to spending $17 million on a new computer system while the Legislature plans to cut funding for Meals on Wheels, child care programs and other human services programs.

Rep. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, sponsored House Bill 762, which calls for a seven-year bond to pay for the system. The fiscal impact in the 2004-2005 budget will be about $460,000 and the total cost of the bond, with interest, will be about $19 million.

The Revenue Department bought the system under the administration of Gov. Marc Racicot and agreed to accept POINTS I from Unisys in December 1999, despite flaws in the software since installation began in May 1998.

Legislators estimate that POINTS has cost the state $61 million, which includes $32 million for the cost of the flawed system, $4 million spent trying to fix the system and $25 million in revenue from tax audits the department wasn’t able to conduct because so many department workers were detached to work on the POINTS mess.

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