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Board pauses staffing changes while Single Source accounting problems are probed
Summary
Town trustees paused adding hours or benefits for the clerk and pressed Single Source, the town's new accounting contractor, to fix recurring time-clock and payroll errors before approving expanded hours or pay changes.
The Shelby Town Board spent a large portion of its meeting examining problems arising from its new Single Source accounting arrangement and the town payroll/time-clock system. Board members and employees described repeated automatic punch-outs, manual corrections and uncertainty about who is responsible for printing checks and producing vouchers under the contract. The board agreed to give the contractor one month to resolve the issues before deciding whether to increase the clerk's hours or make the position full-time.
Why it matters: The town is already using outside accounting services while paying separate bookkeeping help; unresolved payroll and timekeeping issues affect employee pay and could push part-time positions into benefit-eligibility thresholds if hours are increased.
The meeting record shows the accounting firm set up QuickBooks and separate accounts but was not ready to produce vouchers this month, prompting questions from board members and staff about who will print checks and prepare bank statements. The clerk, Darlene, was identified as the town’s primary point of contact for Single Source and was described as being assigned new duties including printing checks and abstracts, filing bank statements and handling time-clock adjustments.
Employees and at least one public works worker described repeated problems with the time clock that cause extra manual work and risk missed pay. Board members said they do not want to automatically add staff hours or pay while the vendor's responsibilities under the contract are unresolved. One supervisor asked the contractor to investigate whether the time-clock software or configuration is causing erroneous automatic punch-outs and to report back to the board.
The board voted to delay any permanent staffing changes for one month and requested a report from Single Source explaining which services will be provided under the town’s contract and whether a rate adjustment is warranted if services have changed.
Next steps: The board will meet with Single Source to get a status update and review any proposed changes to the clerk’s hours or the contractor’s scope of work before voting on staffing or budget adjustments.
