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New Castle County staff outline plan to contract with ClearGov for digital budget book
Summary
County CFO presented a three-year ClearGov contract to create an online, automated budget book; he estimated a year‑one cost of about $68,000 and said efficiency gains may let him remove one budget-office position. The committee discussed but did not record a final vote.
Councilman John Cartier, chair of the New Castle County Administrative Finance Committee, introduced Resolution 26-005 on Jan. 13, 2026, seeking authorization for the county executive to contract with ClearGov to implement a digital budget-book and financial transparency platform.
Dave Del Grande, the county’s chief financial officer, told the committee the county has used the same budget documents for more than 30 years and described ClearGov as a "one-stop, input" system that pulls data from the county’s Munis system to create consistent public-facing documents. "It creates like a user interface on our website allowing folks to have more interaction with our budget," Del Grande said. He added the product is in use by the National Association of Counties and "400 other governments across the country."
Del Grande said the contract covers three years and estimated first-year pricing of about $68,000 with recurring 3% increases in fiscal years 2028 and 2029. He said the platform’s efficiency gains would allow him to remove one position from the budget office: "It's so efficient that I will be removing 1 position from my budget office as a result of that," Del Grande said. The chair confirmed the proposed term: "For the record, this is a three-year contract," he said.
Council members asked clarifying questions about how the product would affect council duties and the budget process. Councilman Smiley said the change would "cut down on the manual effort" and Del Grande replied that the tool would not alter the council’s responsibilities for hearings and presentation but would make materials more uniform.
The transcript records discussion and details about cost, term, and projected personnel savings, but does not record a formal vote on Resolution 26-005 during the public meeting portion.
The committee moved on to other agenda items after noting there was no public comment on the resolution. Next procedural steps in the record are not specified; the resolution may be returned for a formal vote at a later meeting.
