City financial staff on Aug. 20 presented an interactive budget-book product (ClearGov) that will link to the city’s accounting system and produce public‑facing, web‑accessible budget documents. Staff said the product follows the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) budget format and will allow council and residents to click through line items, capital projects, and links to photos or videos.

Finance staff said ClearGov will integrate with the city’s Central Square accounting data, allowing monthly or quarterly financial reporting that updates directly from the accounting system. Staff proposed purchasing the product in the current fiscal year so it can be used to prepare the FY27 budget. The presenter cited a first‑year cost of about $15,000 plus a startup fee (the startup fee cited as $62.50 in the presentation) and said recurring annual costs would be approximately $15,000.

Council members asked about language‑accessibility features and embedding video; staff demonstrated that the platform can offer Google Translate on the budget pages and said they are checking whether videos may be embedded directly. Finance staff said the city would bring a resolution at the next council meeting to authorize purchase.

Outcome: staff will place a purchase resolution on the next agenda and proceed with procurement once the council acts. The software will be used to create an interactive FY27 budget book and to provide ongoing, linkable monthly/quarterly financial reports and capital project dashboards for council and the public.