Most of what changed in Bloomz for Cities this month came from the same place: a clerk, a records officer or a local business owner telling us which step still happened on paper. Here is what is new, module by module, and what each change needs before it shows up for your city.
Civic Rewards: local businesses scan the coupon
When a resident redeems their points for an offer at a local business, the coupon on their phone now carries a QR code. First the city adds the business, links the staff who can scan, and sets a credit on each offer. Staff at the business then sign in, open Scan coupons, scan the code (or type it if the camera can’t read it) and confirm. The coupon is marked used, and the business earns the credit set on that offer.
A few details matter to the people at the counter:
- The business sees a first name and an initial, like “Grace O.”, never the resident’s full name.
- Offers can carry a photo, an end date and a per-person limit, so a “free coffee” offer can look like the coffee, stop at the end of the month, and stay one per resident.
- The business’s credit can go toward its city bill. Where the city takes payments in Bloomz, city billing staff apply a business’s earned credit to an open bill on the utility account linked to that business.
One thing stays the same: a resident’s own points are for rewards at local businesses. They never become a credit on the resident’s bill.
See how Civic Rewards works, or read What Is a Civic Rewards Program? for the bigger picture.
Agendas & Minutes: Watch from here
A resident who missed Tuesday’s council meeting usually wants one item, not three hours of video. Now they can jump straight to it.
When the clerk presses Start Meeting, each agenda item, motion and consent item gets a timestamp as the meeting reaches it. Add the meeting’s Recording URL (the link to your own recording, such as your YouTube stream), and each timestamped item gets a Watch from here link that opens the recording at that moment. If the stream started before the gavel, the clerk enters the video time when the meeting started, and the links line up.
Also new for clerks:
- A Bookmark button during the live meeting, for marking a moment to come back to.
- The timeline goes public after the meeting is complete, and closed-session items never appear in it.
- Document templates for resolutions, ordinances and your own standard documents. When staff add or submit an agenda item, they pick the document type and start from the template.
- New-submission alerts, so the clerk hears about each item staff submit.
Public Records: acknowledgements, imports and a records officer
Three changes for the people who answer records requests:
- Automatic acknowledgement. A city can choose to have each new request confirmed by email as it arrives. It is optional, and staff are alerted to every new request either way.
- Import your existing request log. Upload a .csv or .xlsx of the requests you were already tracking, check the preview, and bring them in. Nobody is emailed, and old overdue requests don’t set off alerts.
- A Public Records Officer staff setting, so the person who runs the records queue can do it without full admin rights.
See Public Records. If your city charges for records, Public Records Fees explains deposits and balances.
Facilities & Rentals: paid rentals to outside groups
Facilities & Rentals is switched on per city. Once it is on, an outside group requests a rental from a public form, then uploads its insurance certificate and signs the city’s agreement online, where the city asks for them. Staff take it through the approval steps, and the city sends a deposit invoice and a balance invoice. A regular booking can be set up as a recurring series. Where the city takes payments in Bloomz, the group pays both invoices by card from its rental link.
See Recreation and facilities.
Getting these turned on
Business coupon scanning (once the city has added the business and its staff), Watch from here, bookmarks, records imports and the Public Records Officer setting are part of the modules your city already uses. Business bill credits and card payments for rentals need Bloomz Payments. Facilities & Rentals is switched on for each city. If you aren’t sure what your city has on, ask us and we’ll check.
The full list, with screenshots, is on What’s New for Cities.
