Hiram City Council approves FY2025-26 midyear budget amendments and authorizes purchase of BSNA software module

Hiram City Council approved midyear amendments to the FY2025-26 budget and authorized the purchase of an additional module for the city's BSNA financial software during the March work session.

Staff told the council the proposed midyear changes were the same as had been presented at an earlier strategic work session and were provided in the meeting packet. A council member moved to approve the midyear budget amendments and a second was recorded; the chair called the vote and said the motion passed.

Council also approved purchase of a missing ad-valorem module for the city's BSNA financial system to handle that portion of the tax and revenue functions. "This would fix that and plug that gap," a staff member said, describing why the module was not included with the earlier upgrade. A council member moved for the purchase; a second was recorded and the chair stated the motion passed.

Staff reported travel and trainer costs related to the BSNA cloud upgrade: "We had five trainers working with us for up to three weeks and this, the amount, is in your packet," Jackie said, noting that the travel was previously approved by council but the final dollar amount was not known until after the upgrade. Council did not read the full travel totals aloud; Jackie said figures were available in the packet.

Separately, council discussed establishing fees for the short-term rental permit adopted in October 2022. Staff proposed a $50 administrative application fee and a $150 annual regulatory fee that would apply only if a permit were approved. Council members asked whether the city's short-term rental threshold remained rentals under 30 days; staff confirmed the threshold.

Next steps: staff will finalize procurement paperwork for the BSNA module and follow the special-event, fee-setting, and budget-implementation processes described in the packet.