The consultant now handling the Yachats’ finances Wednesday night recommended to the City Council that it adopt new accounting software to save staff time and provide a better picture of money issues.
With the Feb. 1 departure of clerk Judy Richter, the city is contracting with the Albany-based Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments to handle its finances. One of the group’s five staffers is spending two days a week in Yachats with OCWCOG finance director Sue Forty coming for a day every other week.
Forty met with the city’s finance committee last week and was introduced to the council Wednesday night.
Forty and City Manager Shannon Beaucaire recommended the city buy new software called Springbrook to replace its current labor-intensive and limited finance system called Chaves. Forty said she has been using Springbrook for 19 years and that many other cities in Oregon use it, especially smaller jurisdictions like Yachats. It is robust, secure, reliable and can incorporate all aspects of financial management, including utilities, licensing, grant and project management, and any kind of payments, she said.
With the city’s system, Forty told the council, it took her and another staffer 12 hours this week to write 41 checks. The Springbrook software could do that in 20 minutes and provide more complete and varied financial reports.
“It won’t take me half a day and seven phone calls to get something printed,” utility clerk Kimmie Jackson told the council.
Forty did not say how much the software would cost, but last week told the finance committee she was hoping to negotiate a purchase price of around $10,000 with a small, annual maintenance fee. Beaucaire said the city is currently paying around $7,500 a year to maintain its finance system.
The city is already in the process of getting an entirely new internet technology system for its website, document library and reservation system but needs to find a program to handle finances.
Mayor John Moore, who spent three hours at OCWCOG’s headquarters last week getting an orientation on the system, was enthusiastic about the ability to save time and customize financial reports.
“It will do a lot more than we’ll ever ask it to,” Moore said. “This will be a welcome change.”
In other business Wednesday night, the council:
- From four applicants voted to appoint three new members – Lance Bloch, Dawn Miller and John Purcell — to the budget committee. Bloch, a member of the planning commission, received five votes. Purcell, chair of the parks and commons committee, and new resident Dawn Miller each received four. Ann Stott, who ran for mayor last November, got two votes.
- Appointed Stott, Ron Urban and Tom Fisher to the public works and streets commission, which now has full membership.
- After some final tinkering, unanimously approved proposed changes to the city charter that will go to voters on the May 21 ballot. The changes outline the role of the city manager in the city’s 3-year-old form of government, and make small changes to the rarely-used role of a municipal judge and how to handle vacancies on the five-member council should there be only three members.