Brimfield trustees approve switch to ADP payroll system after extended debate

The Brimfield Township Board of Trustees voted to contract with ADP Workforce Now to replace much of the township’s manual payroll processing, approving a not-to-exceed annual amount of $17,000 and a discounted implementation fee. The motion passed by roll call: Mike — yes; Sue — yes; Nick — abstained.

The trustees said the change is intended to replace multiple separately billed systems and to reduce extensive manual entry associated with the township’s current state system, UAN. Holly, the township fiscal officer, explained the current process requires managers to submit paper time sheets that payroll staff manually enter and the fiscal officer then verifies. “It takes quite a few hours just to get through that process,” Holly said during her presentation.

Holly recommended ADP Workforce Now after demonstrations of ADP and a competitor, and noted ADP includes applicant tracking, onboarding, electronic I-9 and e-verify, benefits administration, tax filing, time and attendance options, and employee self-service. Holly said the township would still retain UAN for accounting but would use ADP for payroll and employee-facing services. “I am requesting approval for a not to exceed amount of 17,000 per year,” she said.

Trustees and department leaders spent the bulk of the meeting on whether to require time clock punch-in/punch-out for police and fire personnel. Chief Moseley said his department used the township’s drone to help locate submerged helicopter wreckage at Mabroto Reservoir and described staffing and training updates; he and other chiefs said they were not interested in requiring routine punched time for sworn personnel because many court appearances, training and callbacks occur away from the station. “Some of my overtime is going to involve officers that are going to court…they go directly to court from home,” one chief said, arguing that requiring a return to station to clock would be impractical.

Holly and trustees discussed two technical ways to bring police and fire payroll into ADP without changing their shift/timekeeping practices: 1) an automated file export from the departments’ existing scheduling systems into ADP, or 2) building an interface during implementation so the departments can continue current workflows while ADP receives a formatted data import. Holly said ADP confirmed the vendor can accept a spreadsheet or a direct interface during implementation. “If police and fire do not wish to use time and attendance, it would simply set up either a data transfer or they would populate a spreadsheet,” Holly said.

Trustees also debated cost allocation. Holly said the estimated annual cost of roughly $14,082 after promotions would be split among departments; she proposed equal shares across four departments. Trustees raised implementation timing, subject-matter-expert setup, and the need for chiefs to demo ADP with the vendor before finalizing implementation details. The board approved engagement with ADP but directed staff to schedule demonstrations and technical follow-up with police and fire.

Implementation timeline and payment: Holly said there are no monthly fees until the first payroll is processed and that ADP offered a promotional free period and a discounted implementation fee. ADP implementation typically ranges from eight weeks to four months depending on complexity, Holly said.

The board’s approval requires the fiscal office and department heads to work with ADP to define the data exchange approach for police and fire, set subject-matter experts for configuration of contract-driven pay rules and test the system thoroughly before going live.

Votes at the meeting recorded that the motion to engage ADP with the not-to-exceed amount and implementation parameters passed with two votes in favor and one abstention.