City of Manhattan, Kansas selects Oracle Permitting and Licensing

The City of Manhattan, Kansas selected Oracle Permitting and Licensing (OPAL) to replace legacy permitting systems and to streamline regulatory services, review and approval processes, and local economic growth efforts.

Manhattan served a regional population of 130,000 and was identified in the announcement as the fourth-largest urban area in Kansas, with Kansas State University and Fort Riley among its major employers; the city decided to replace outdated systems and manual processes and aimed to enhance revenue management and service delivery.

According to the materials, OPAL provides a modern online application experience that guides residential and commercial developers through regulatory requirements, automates review and approval workflows, and supplies real-time project updates from preapplication to final approval, while consolidating planning, permitting, inspections, licensing, and code enforcement into a centralized cloud solution.

With City Commission approval, Manhattan is partnering with Oracle to design and implement a comprehensive online permitting and licensing portal over the next year; the implementation plan described integration of planning, permitting, inspections, licensing, and code enforcement and a timeline targeting a summer 2026 launch.

“We're entering a new era of regulatory efficiency that will unlock exciting possibilities for our community,” said Jared Wasinger, Director of Technology and Communications of Manhattan, Kansas. “Local governments face mounting pressure to modernize regulatory services while operating with limited resources and tight budgets,” said Simon Threlfall, general vice president for Emerging Markets, Oracle. “For existing Oracle Fusion application customers like Manhattan, OPAL is already in their Oracle Cloud environment. This accelerates time-to-value, streamlines their technology ecosystem, and delivers continuous innovation such as built-in AI to our customers.”

The city planned a one-year implementation and expected the portal to launch in summer 2026.