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Finance director Lisa: audits accepted by state, commission asks for simpler quarterly reports as ERP demos begin
Summary
Finance Director Lisa told the Finance Commission that delayed audits for 2022–23 and 2023–24 have been completed and accepted by the state, restoring statutory compliance; commissioners asked staff for a one-page quarterly scorecard and heard that three ERP finalists were chosen and demos scheduled.
Finance Director Lisa reported that the city’s delayed fiscal-year audits have been completed and accepted by the state, and that "as of October 25, the city was no longer behind on financial filings," restoring statutory compliance and easing external scrutiny.
Commissioners praised Lisa’s work and discussed how to improve oversight and reporting. Committee member (Speaker 2) said a briefer format would be more useful for quarterly oversight and recommended a one-page scorecard showing revenues, expenses and net surplus or deficit for the general fund and each enterprise fund. Lisa said the packet she provided overlaid audit statements with budget information and that staff can provide a higher-level summary beginning with the second quarter; she suggested 60 days after quarter close is a reasonable cadence to close and review quarterly results.
On staffing and operations, an agency official (Speaker 6) and several commissioners noted vacancies in the finance department and urged the council to give staff the resources needed. Resident commenter Keith Durrett said, "Give her whatever she needs — people, equipment, time," and urged quick action to sustain progress.
Lisa also updated the commission on the city’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) procurement. She said the RFP produced 11 responses, the selection committee narrowed that to three finalists, and demos will be scheduled shortly. Lisa said staff will hire a project manager to support implementation and stated an aspirational goal to have core finance modules (general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing, close) operational by the start of the next fiscal year, with payroll following in January. She acknowledged that timeline is aggressive and that a realistic schedule will be developed with the selected vendor and project manager.
What’s next: staff will schedule ERP demos for the commission, provide a more concise quarterly reporting format as discussed, and circulate the 60-day post-quarter meeting dates. Commissioners asked for actuary reports (pension and OPEB) to be scheduled for future meetings for a full review.
