Plankinton council approves switch of ACH processing to Farmers & Merchants, sets debit timing

At the same meeting the Plankinton council approved a motion to transfer municipal ACH payment processing from the town's current vendor (GWorks) to Farmers & Merchants bank and set the timing for electronic debits at two days before a bill's due date.

Clerk Cindy told the board that the bank's processing fee is 5 cents per transaction and that Kelsey (the bank contact) requires a formatted file with identifying information and amounts to perform the bank-to-bank transfer. Because the office previously destroyed full bank account details after importing them into the prior system (retaining only the last four digits), residents on ACH will need to re-submit authorization forms so the new bank can store their information and process transactions.

Council members discussed the optimal timing for debits. Staff recommended a firm internal deadline (for example, by 5 p.m. the day before the selected debit date) so the file can be sent and transfers can clear in time. After debate, the council approved a motion (moved by Amber and seconded by Jim in the meeting record) to switch processing to Farmers & Merchants and to pull funds two days before the bill due date; the motion passed by voice vote.

The council directed staff to contact ACH customers to update their payment authorizations and to coordinate with Kelsey at Farmers & Merchants to establish the file format and processing schedule. No detailed implementation timetable beyond the two-day pull decision was recorded in the transcript.

Ending: The council approved the bank switch and the debit-timing approach; staff will follow up with customer outreach and technical setup at Farmers & Merchants.