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Ellsworth council hears consultant’s plan to streamline finance operations; auditor coordination planned
Summary
City officials described consultant Sue Lessard’s ongoing reconciliation and process review, said auditors and the consultant have met, and flagged possible ordinance or policy changes to reduce manual work and audit findings.
Ellsworth council members and finance staff discussed a consultant-led effort to reconcile accounts and streamline finance processes that officials said could reduce manual work and limit future audit findings.
Council member Charlie (S1) said consultant Sue Lessard has been working closely with the finance team and ‘‘came out of the office’’ to spend a full day with staff. He said initial recommendations will be reviewed with council and could include ordinance changes or internal policy updates to speed reconciliations and free staff for higher-value tasks. ‘‘There will be sort of an initial set of recommendations that she has that I’m gonna discuss with her next week and then probably report back out to council,’’ Charlie said.
A participant asked whether Lessard’s recommendations align with the city’s auditors. S3 said it would be ‘‘helpful’’ to know the consultant and auditor are on the same page. Charlie replied that Sue ‘‘has already met with Ron and his team, and they are on the same page’’ and noted a long-standing working relationship between the consultant and the audit firm staff.
Finance director Nate (S4) said monthly fiscal reports for July and August will be posted online and reminded council that a warrant requiring signatures would be emailed later that afternoon to allow timely processing. Council members discussed a limited contract with the auditing firm RHR for accounting services if additional coordination with staff is needed, while emphasizing they do not expect an engagement on the scale of the roughly $250,000 accounting services paid in 2024.
Council members also discussed broader organizational steps recommended by the consultant, including consolidated digital records and better integrations among systems such as Cassell, Trio and GovernmentWindow to make audits more efficient. Charlie said the goal is to get to a ‘‘fully functional and optimized best-in-class finance department’’ and to avoid repeating past findings.
Next steps: council members suggested scheduling a follow-up presentation (possible October) for Sue Lessard to present process updates and allow council feedback before any formal vote on contract changes or ordinance amendments.
