Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Trustee presses staff on unbilled receivables and high budget variances as board approves minutes
Summary
The Germantown board approved May 18, 2026 minutes and trustees questioned two $20,000 "unbilled accounts receivable" entries, large budget-to-actual variances, a $46,218 undefined engineering charge, and municipal borrowing/audit costs. Staff agreed to provide follow-up details.
The Village of Germantown Board approved the minutes from its May 18, 2026 meeting and then spent much of the meeting on financial questions, including unexplained accounts receivable entries, unusually large budget variances and the cost of borrowing and auditing.
During reports, a trustee flagged two $20,000 entries to Brion Building Corp. listed in the check run as “unbilled accounts receivable,” and asked what the entries were tied to. A staff member replied that unbilled accounts receivable indicates the village has received money but has not yet invoiced the ultimate entity; the staff member said the amounts would clear once invoices are issued.
Trustee Heffley raised several budget concerns, noting that the clerk’s office was at about 75.8% of its budget midway through June and that some ledger lines showed very large percentage overruns (examples cited in the meeting included accounts over 1,200% and 1,600% of budget). He also asked what “fixed charges” represent, saying fixed charges appear at about 90.9% across multiple accounts. A staff member offered to provide detailed answers the next day.
Heffley also pointed to an “undefined charge” of $46,218 in the engineering account and asked whether such charges are later assigned to projects for tracking and how that record is maintained. Staff again said they would follow up with page references and explanations.
On investments and borrowing, a trustee reported that funds from Ehlers had been transferred into the village accounts and noted professional fees associated with a recent $17 million bond issuance: Quarles & Brady charged $57,000 for bond counsel and Baird’s compensation was $55,451, which the trustee summed as an added cost to be repaid with principal and interest. The trustee also asked whether the Baker Tilly audit cost of $58,289 was typical for a municipality Germantown’s size and asked for context on whether that fee was high, low or normal.
Procedural business at the start of the meeting included the chair reading the public notice that the meeting complied with Wisconsin statutes sections 19.83 and 19.84 and a roll call. The board moved to approve the May 18, 2026 minutes; a motion was made and seconded and the chair called the motion carried after aye votes.
No members of the public came forward during the citizen input period. The board set its next meeting for Monday, July 20 at 5:30 p.m. and adjourned at 5:53 p.m.
