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Sagadahoc County previews digital budget book to streamline FY27 planning
Summary
Administrator Amber Jones and Finance Director Jill Flaherty demonstrated a digital budget book built on a GFOA template that they said is about 80–85% complete and will centralize departmental worksheets, narratives, version control and audit trails ahead of FY27 budgeting.
Bath, Maine — Sagadahoc County officials on Nov. 13 unveiled a new digital budget book intended to centralize budget data, speed collaboration and improve transparency as the county prepares its FY27 budget.
Administrator Amber Jones and Finance Director Jill Flaherty showed commissioners a demo of the platform, which Flaherty said is “about 80–85%” complete and follows the Government Finance Officers Association template. The digital book includes departmental worksheets, fund summaries, personnel and capital modules (the latter to be completed for the next budget cycle), narrative fields for justifications and an audit trail that records edits and versioning.
Jones said the tool will allow departments to populate their pages directly and enable reviewers to view or, when granted permission, submit change requests. Flaherty demonstrated side-by-side comparisons, the ability to lock a published version while still accepting change requests, and user-permission controls to restrict who may edit or print pages.
Deputy Probate Register Hannah Dickinson praised the move to an online process, saying it is suited to her “era of life” and will reduce reliance on bulky paper copies. Commissioners stressed the need for a single controlled master version and discussed limiting editing windows and producing weekly change reports for the Budget Advisory Committee to avoid confusion over outdated figures.
Flaherty said the personnel module will show how adding positions or adjusting benefits affects taxes and premiums, and noted that the capital module requires further mapping but should be ready for the next budget cycle. Jones said administrators plan to provide department-level logins and training, with ClearGov support and possible internal Lunch-and-Learn sessions for hands-on instruction.
The presentation is intended to precede formal budget meetings in early February when caucusing begins; Jones said she will forward the official schedule to commissioners. The county will continue refining narratives and completing remaining pages before presenting the FY27 budget to the Budget Advisory Committee and the board.
The demonstration concluded with commissioners agreeing to proceed with implementation and training in advance of the formal budget season.
