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Council adopts project-code ordinance to centralize tracking; Workday rollout and department readiness remain open questions
Summary
Council adopted substitute bill establishing project codes to improve cross-departmental accounting; members and staff discussed Munis current capability and Workday transition timetable before final passage.
The St. Louis County Council on July 8 adopted a substitute ordinance to establish project and program codes across county departments to centralize financial tracking for multi-department and large projects.
Substitute bill number 1 for bill 128, which enacts a new Chapter 115 (project codes) in county ordinance, passed final passage with a unanimous roll call, 7–0. Councilman Harter sponsored the substitute and urged adoption to give the council “the ability to track things, like this building, and projects like that, so we can look at it quickly instead of having to go to five different databases.”
Council members and staff spent substantial time discussing implementation. Chris Howard (county staff) and others said the county’s current financial system (Munis) can accept project codes now, and the ordinance would provide definitions and “guardrails” for projects that meet specified thresholds (multi-department projects or those over a defined dollar amount). Howard said the codes will “set the stage” for a future transition to Workday but acknowledged Workday’s roll-out timetable is a variable.
Councilwoman Webb asked whether departments would be able to produce project-code reports for the upcoming budget cycle and raised concerns that departments had not yet been fully prepared for rollout. Howard and other staff said the system can attach project codes in Munis today and the ordinance sets definitions so the practice can be standardized now; integration to Workday (planned but with a moving timetable) will follow in future phases.
The council passed the substitute bill on a roll-call vote recorded as 7 ayes and 0 nays. Sponsors described the ordinance as framework legislation that defines projects versus programs, sets thresholds for when project codes must be used, and designates responsibilities for reporting so the council can more easily compile total project costs across multiple departments.
Councilmembers asked staff to confirm the expected Workday rollout date and to follow up with departments about readiness and reporting standards prior to budget hearings; one member asked staff to report back to the council with a timetable.
