City staff told the Columbia Falls council workshop they will seek a new auditor under a multi-year contract, pursue software options for utility billing and consolidate grant administration to improve tracking and compliance.

Staff said the finance department will issue a request for proposals for audit services and hopes to secure a three-year contract. Staff noted audits are essential for grant compliance and fiscal controls.

On customer-facing services, staff said the city is researching mobile and online utility-billing solutions that would allow residents to view payment history, consumption and billing analytics; staff did not select a specific vendor at the workshop. Staff also discussed upgrading aging local computers and moving more finance functions to cloud-hosted systems over FY26.

Staff emphasized a planned grant-management/accounting hire to reduce fragmented grant oversight and help the city better track resort-tax contributions and other external funding streams. The presentation described resort-tax tracking as a mix of manual follow-up and software support and said staff will pursue both technology and personnel solutions.

No formal procurement decisions were made; staff said the audit RFP, utility-billing options and staffing proposal will proceed through normal procurement and council approval processes.