Finance director says current budgeting software cannot run two concurrent scenarios; board members press for options

Kane County Finance Director Kathy Hopkinson told the Finance and Budget Committee the county’s current budgeting software, New World Systems, can build and revise a single budget but cannot support two alternate scenarios simultaneously.

“We can have a budget, and then you can make changes to that budget. But you can't have 2 simultaneous different scenarios at a time where you're making changes to both of those scenarios,” Hopkinson told the committee. She described possible short‑term workarounds — spreadsheets or test environments — and said a full replacement would likely be a multi‑year project.

Why it matters: Several board members said the inability to model Plan A/Plan B simultaneously makes the board’s budget work less flexible and urged staff to solicit demonstrations from vendors. One member said a comparable county paid roughly $5 million for similar functionality; another estimated up to $10 million, and finance staff said a serious replacement would likely be a two‑year implementation.

Details and next steps: Hopkinson said the finance department has run demonstrations and will continue evaluating options but cautioned that an enterprise replacement would require extensive cross‑department work and funding. The committee discussed whether to budget for a replacement in a future cycle or use interim spreadsheet-based practices while keeping the current system for production work.

Ending: Committee members asked staff to return cost estimates and implementation schedules if they pursue an enterprise replacement and to continue short‑term training and guidance to departments to improve the monthly close and timeliness of budget inputs.