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Trustee warns of procedural problems as Lauterbach & Amon outline finance director role
Summary
Lauterbach & Amon representatives described a proposed finance-director arrangement for the Village of Hampton Hills; Trustee Therese raised legal and procedural concerns about whether the firm’s agreement had been properly authorized and asked for renegotiation and contact information. The board agreed to follow up offline.
Lauterbach & Amon representatives visited the Village of Hampton Hills during the board’s April 29 special meeting to describe a proposed contract to provide finance-director services. ‘‘We can be whatever puzzle piece you need us to be,’’ Matt Baron, identified himself as a partner at Lauterbach & Amon, told trustees as he explained the firm’s review-and-oversight approach to municipal accounting.
The visit prompted an immediate procedural challenge. Trustee Therese told the board she ‘‘has raised concerns regarding the execution of the Lauterbach and Amon agreement’’ and said in her view the agreement ‘‘was not properly authorized’’ after previously being indefinitely tabled on Feb. 17, 2026. Therese said she had shared legal concerns with the village administrator and village attorney and asked that any renegotiation be brought back to the board for formal consideration.
Representatives from the firm described the scope they would perform if hired. Bob Tannehill, who identified himself as an accountant for the firm, said the team frequently performs the functions of a finance director for small jurisdictions — preparing budgets, producing monthly financial reports, doing bank reconciliations in the Cassell system, supporting audits and reviewing the work of on-site clerks. He said the firm’s role is often to ‘‘review it to make sure it’s done and you sign off’’ and to provide segregation of duties and audit-ready processes.
Trustees pressed the firm on cost and hours. Several trustees questioned a proposed $7,000 monthly fee (discussed in the meeting as equivalent to roughly $134–$161 per hour depending on the hours counted) and asked how much of the day-to-day workload would remain on village staff. The firm and village staff said daily bookkeeping and some clerk duties (assigned to village staff such as Michelle and Russ in the discussion) would remain local, while the firm would provide oversight, training on the Cassell system and higher-level financial management and audit support.
Therese also expressed concern about potential overlap between audit work the firm had done historically for the village and the accounting work it might perform going forward. Lauterbach & Amon and staff said a new audit firm will perform the next audit and that the firm would not audit its own work; they also described a plan to use the audited April 30, 2025 balances as a roll‑forward point and then reconcile subsequent months in Cassell.
Board members agreed to follow up. Trustees asked staff and the firm to exchange contact information and to schedule a time for further review; Therese said she planned to meet separately with firm representatives after the meeting to discuss her concerns. No formal contract action was taken on the record at the meeting.
The board moved from that discussion into internal budget deliberations and other agenda items; Lauterbach & Amon representatives left after responding to trustees’ follow-up questions.
