Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Contracts topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Wayne County committee approves omnibus budget adjustments and extends audit support contracts
Summary
The Wayne County Ways and Means Committee approved an omnibus package of budget adjustments, extended an audit‑support cooperative agreement and authorized a one‑year consulting contract to redesign the county’s budget process; commissioners approved the package by roll call.
The Wayne County Commission’s Ways and Means Committee approved a package of minutes, budget adjustments and contract actions and moved to bring a series of year‑end budget amendments and service contracts to the full commission.
Chair Kenlock opened the meeting saying it was called to "reconcil[e] last ... any technical ... budget amendments and reconciling our books from last year," and pressed management for outstanding amendments. Management and budget staff said some year‑end and audit‑related items remain and that several items will be returned in January.
Management introduced Amendment No. 3 to a one‑year cooperative agreement with Greening Group LLC to extend the contract and change its scope from supportive budgeting work to "assist[ing] with the audit prep and ... some of the audit related items," staff said. Commissioners asked whether the county had sufficient in‑house FTEs to do the work; Deputy CFO Betsy Laughlin replied that staff are not gone but are doing dual data entry across JD Edwards and Oracle and also supporting two new GASB implementations (referred to in the record as GASB 101 and 102), so consultants are temporarily needed to ensure the audit is completed on time. As Laughlin put it, financial reporting practitioners "are doing dual entry with Oracle."
The committee also approved a one‑year professional services contract with Watson and Yates LLC. Staff described the assignment as a review and redesign of the county’s budget process — "reimagining" the budget department’s processes, identifying best practices, and building templates to move departments toward line‑item budgeting rather than category‑based approvals. Staff said they expect the consulting engagement to be completed within a year but that it can be renewed if needed.
A series of budget adjustments and revenue certifications were read into the record and approved as part of the omnibus motion. Those items included reallocations in the Special Capital Projects Fund, General Fund, General Liability Fund, Drug Enforcement Fund, Community Development Block Grant fund (a transfer to address a CDBG deficit was described), and certifications for Homeland Security to cover a $22,000 increase in hazardous‑mitigation planning costs.
Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes from Dec. 9, 2025: moved, supported, voice vote; item approved. - Omnibus approval of items 1–19 (which included the Greening Group amendment, the Watson and Yates contract and multiple budget adjustments): motion by Commissioner Anderson, supported by Commissioner Beydoun; roll call recorded "yes" from Commissioners Morecki, Comenci, Anderson, Vice Chair Badu and Chair Kenlock; motion carried.
What this means Committee members said they want the county to reduce reliance on outside contractors over time and to increase in‑house capacity for budget and audit work. Management and budget staff emphasized that the current Oracle implementation and related audit activity have increased workload and requests from auditors, which is why temporary consultant support was recommended.
The committee did not remove any items from the omnibus package and approved the actions as read; items identified as needing more work were slated to be returned to the committee in January.
