Commissioners pause full rollout of new timekeeping system, agree to pilot two departments

The county's planned rollout of a new countywide timekeeping system was the subject of extended discussion Jan. 20 after department heads and employees raised questions about training, state-email integration, GPS location settings and how the system would handle field crews.

Susan (auditor) explained the system was chosen so it can integrate with the county's payroll/financial software; she said the goal is to replace paper time sheets and unify timekeeping. Multiple department heads—including surveyor and highway representatives—said the vendor had not engaged sufficiently with unique departmental workflows and that training to date was inadequate. Concerns included: use of state email addresses for authentication; GPS tracking behavior and parameters; rounding settings (six-minute rounding discussed); and potential impacts on operations in field-heavy departments.

Several speakers urged more hands-on training and department-specific configuration. Public commenters and department staff asked to delay full deployment until these issues are resolved. Commissioners and staff agreed to limit the initial live rollout to two 'easy' 8‑to‑5 departments (auditor and treasurer) as a pilot to work out integration and training issues before onboarding more complex units. Commissioners also agreed to attempt coordination with the county council (liaison Rick Ring) to address overlapping authority and budgetary implications.

What’s next: Staff will provide a training and pilot schedule, coordinate with the council liaison, and bring technical clarifications (including GPS parameters and account authentication) back to the commissioners before broader rollout.