City staff report Cassell transition and utility billing problems; council accepts report

Greg, a city staff member presenting the administration report at the March 18 City Council meeting, described continued work on several city projects, technical issues following a migration to the Cassell financial system, and plans for budgeting and small-business loan distribution. Council then moved to accept the report and recorded a voice vote.

The update matters because the Cassell migration affects utility billing, payroll and other core operations; staff described short-term manual workarounds and training measures to prevent billing errors for residents.

Greg said the general ledger and accounting functions are working, and that Sydney (a staff member) has taken the lead on reconciling minor items. He said utility billing has been “all over the place” during the transition and that staff have been manually reviewing printed reports and individual bills to ensure meters and demand calculations are loaded correctly in the new system. The city posted a social-media notice to customers after a set of duplicate printed bills was mailed; staff advised customers to disregard duplicate mailings and to contact city hall with questions.

Greg outlined several operational steps: additional cross-training so another Cassell staff member can cover for maternity leave, manual payroll transition measures while functions stabilize, and coordination with the city’s IT provider to balance security and remote-training needs. He said the city moved to an accrual method that posts vacation accruals more frequently (aligned with pay periods) rather than posting a full annual vacation allotment at once.

Earlier in the meeting Greg and other staff noted that a local camera system that had drawn public attention was removed with assistance from the electric department and the county sheriff’s office; comments in the report suggested the party that had installed the system may not return to request use of city property. Greg also said he and Kelly are finalizing documentation for a Diverse LBA loan for a downtown cafe and that staff hope to have funds ready for distribution.

On budget planning, Greg said the city will largely follow the previous calendar and will use Excel-based files for departmental submissions this spring, then load budgets into the Cassell budget module later in the fiscal cycle to avoid overburdening staff during the initial rollout. He said the city will implement more of the system’s budgeting functions next year after stabilizing utility billing and payroll.

After the report, a council member moved to accept the administration report; the motion was seconded and the clerk recorded votes in favor. The council accepted the report; no changes to policy or budget were adopted at that time.