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Lake County auditors and supervisors debate Workday rollout and software purchases; board asks TGC for vetting
Summary
Auditor‑controller staff updated the board on the county’s Workday ERP implementation and urged stronger vetting of new departmental software; supervisors called for Technology Governance Committee (TGC) recommendations and requested a temporary stop on new purchases until the TGC review process is strengthened.
The county’s multi‑year Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation, centered on Workday, came under scrutiny during the June 15 budget hearings as the auditor‑controller warned departments to coordinate software purchases through the Technology Governance Committee.
Auditor‑Controller Jen B. Harrington (speaker 9) said parts of the Workday rollout were pushed to Oct. 1 and that implementation teams are building modules for grants, procurement, assets and payroll. She told the board there is limited bandwidth to bring departments online and emphasized the need for a vetted process to avoid duplicate systems and ongoing subscription costs.
"Anybody who's getting a new software in Lake County is supposed to have that vetted by the TGC," Harrington said, and she asked supervisors to require a TGC recommendation before the board approves additional software purchases.
Several supervisors said they were concerned about paying for overlapping software subscriptions while Workday is being implemented. One supervisor noted repeated spending on separate systems and urged a pause on new software acquisitions until the county can present a consolidated technology path and clearer cost schedule.
Board direction: Supervisors asked administration to strengthen TGC vetting and to return with a policy framework and timeline — ideally by the June 23 meeting — to prevent new purchases that could duplicate Workday capabilities or add long‑term subscription expenses. County counsel recommended clarifying whether a policy stop on purchases would require line‑item budget changes or could proceed as a policy direction to staff.
What remains unresolved: The board did not block all software projects but sought a more robust TGC process and a temporary manual stop‑gap: if a software request reaches the board without a TGC recommendation, supervisors said it should be deferred. Auditor Harrington said many ERP‑related expenses have been budgeted for two years and that staff will bring funding‑source clarifications on Wednesday.
