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Kenyon council approves temporary payroll services from Abdo as city seeks finance director
Summary
With the city lacking an in-house finance director, council approved continued temporary payroll services from Abdo; administration reported a $2,900 invoice for initial setup and ongoing hourly rates in the $240–$300 range and outlined proposed additional budgeting support packages costing roughly $13,000–$22,000.
Kenyon’s City Council voted July 8 to continue using accounting and payroll firm Abdo to process payroll while the city fills its finance director position.
City Administrator Scott Lanner said Abdo staff member Valerie handled the initial payroll setup and that the firm billed the city $2,900 for work performed since June 16 covering two payroll runs and setup. “We just paid a bill to them for $2,900, $2,900 to have out to do two sets of payroll for us,” Lanner said. He added that Abdo estimates ongoing payroll processing will require about 2–3 hours per payroll once the system is set up and that current hourly rates discussed range from about $240 to $300 per hour during the transition.
Lanner told the council Abdo also offered broader finance support including help preparing the 2026 budget; he previewed one estimate for the budget piece at $13,000–$18,000 for a single package and suggested that implementing four support packages could cost roughly $16,000–$22,000 in total. He characterized Abdo’s role as a short-term bridge to keep payroll and financial tasks on track until a permanent finance director is hired.
Council moved and approved a motion to continue using Abdo for payroll services on a temporary basis; the voice vote recorded the members present in the affirmative. Lanner said staff will continue to manage contract costs and evaluate how long the city should retain external payroll support while training or hiring internal staff.
The council did not set a specific sunset date for Abdo’s services at the meeting; Lanner said the council would revisit details, costs and any additional agreements at subsequent meetings (notably next week’s bond meeting and a personnel committee discussion).
