The San Luis Obispo City Council chose the highest bidder from five companies that offered to replace much of the city’s software. City staffers chose EnerGov’s final bid to replace the city’s FoxPro applications for $815,000 with an annual fee of $98,884.

Other bids ranged from a low of $349,000 to a high of $762,096. EnerGov’s initial cost estimate was for $1,726,393, but after “several rounds of negotiation,” the company dropped its bid by more than a million dollars. The city pared down its software requests so it could afford the reduced bid by EnerGov.

The city had little choice but to retool its software because it had to replace much of the work of Bonnie McKee Hoadley, a local IT expert who passed away last year. McKee installed, programmed, and maintained much of the city’s computer infrastructure for more than 20 years