New budget director outlines Q2 review, miscoding cleanup and plans for monthly department reviews

Margaret Micharda, Everett’s recently appointed budget director, appeared before the Committee on Ways and Means on March 20 to summarize the administration’s Q2 review work and plans to reduce miscoding and improve monthly fiscal oversight.

Micharda said she began in October, held Q2 review meetings with department heads starting in January and focused on personnel coding and general ledger standardization. “My primary question was, how are you managing your budget? And what are you doing to make better services for the city and constituents?” she said. Micharda described efforts to standardize “other expense” object codes across departments and to correct payroll misclassifications discovered in Q2.

Micharda told the committee that some payroll miscoding stemmed from prior system changes; the city had moved financial platforms and is now reverting from Munis back to Harpers (referred to in the transcript as “Harpers”) to restore better visibility and reporting. She said she will prioritize department training and, after the FY26 budget is adopted, begin recurring monthly reviews with department heads to make the process proactive rather than reactive.

Committee members thanked Micharda for the update, asked for follow‑up templates that would help Ways and Means see major variances and the reasons behind them, and requested that outstanding written questions be attached to the meeting minutes. A motion to place the Q2 materials on file carried in committee; the committee also asked that the administration return with a report following the budget season to show whether the corrections and processes are working.

The committee recorded the motion to place the Q2 report on file and indicated it expects both Q3 and a combined Q3/budget review in the coming months.