City plans to switch to new financial software program

     In December, Monticello City Clerk Sally Hinrichsen and City Administrator Russ Farnum informed the city council that the City of Monticello would soon be in need of a new software program.

   At the time, the statewide financial software system GWorks, used by cities throughout Iowa, was not as user-friendly as it was advertised to be.

   The goal was to have cities switch over this new software by the end of 2025. Both Hinrichsen and Farnum wanted to explore other companies before it was too late.

   During the March 3 Monticello City Council meeting, the council approved the purchase of software and five concurrent licenses from Civic Systems LLC. The downpayment comes at a price of $42,820. This is 50 percent of the total cost.

   The five concurrent licenses are $85,640.

   The software is used for the city's financials, utility billing, receipt management, and payroll.

   Hinrichsen said she and Farnum spoke with several different software companies before recommending Civic Systems.

   "While they were all competitive," she said, "this one was a little cheaper in the long run."

   Council member Mary Phelan had some questions before pulling the trigger.

   "Do we need to do any parallel run time with this new software?" she asked.

   Hinrichsen said while that would be ideal, the timeframe to get everything converted over to Civic Systems is none to 10 months.

   "So I don't know if we'll have much time to do that," she said. "We're hoping that we can do at least one month parallel."

   Phelan also asked who would have access to the five licenses; why that many licenses were needed.

   Hinrichsen said the four people within City Hall would all have access: Her, Farnum, and Deputy Clerks Cheryl Clark and Nanci Tuel. The fifth license would be for city staff to clock in and out.

   "Depending on if we do payroll where they clock in using the system, then they would have access," she said. "It's geo-based. So at the sewer plant, you'd have to be on the grounds before they could clock in."