Finance Committee Meeting — Minutes

1 FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 1 Monday, June 8, 2026, 11:00 PM 2 Approved 3 4 1. Call to Order 5 1. Call to Order 0:00 6 Chair White called the Finance Committee meeting to order at 11:01 AM on Monday, June 8, 2026. 7 8 2. Roll Call 0:10 9 Present: White (Chair), Laszkiewicz, Kelly, Howson, Woerfel 10 11 3. Approve Agenda 0:23 12 Motion to approve the agenda was made by Laszkiewicz and seconded by Kelly. Motion carried — all ayes. 13 14 4. Approve Meeting Minutes 0:36 15 a. May 21, 2026 16 Howson identified a correction on page 4, line 16, noting that the minutes incorrectly attributed the 17 motion to adjourn to her, as she had left the meeting early. The correction was to properly attribute the 18 motion to the appropriate member. 19 Motion to approve the May 21, 2026 meeting minutes as amended was made by Howson and seconded 20 by Laszkiewicz. Motion carried — all ayes. 21 22 5. Comments, Correspondence and Concerns from the Public 2:25 23 No public comments, correspondence, or concerns were received. 24 25 6. Presentations 2:50 26 a. Request to Implement ClearGov Budgeting & Reporting Solutions 27 Kristen from ClearGov outlined two proposals for budgeting modernization software, addressing the need 28 to shift from manual spreadsheets and enhance visibility, data integrity, and public transparency. Option 29 1 featured Operational and Personnel Budgeting modules, with a setup fee of $9,724 and an annual fee 30 of $16,650. Option 2, the more comprehensive package, offered five modules, including Capital 31 Budgeting, Digital Budget Book, and Financial Engagement, with a setup fee of $12,289 and an annual fee 32 of $24,289, providing a 40% discount and additional transparency tools. Key discussions focused on 33 improving data accuracy and community transparency over reducing staff. ClearGov confirmed that it 34 includes unlimited users and onboarding support. Gannik raised concerns about potential extra charges 35 from Cassell, the current ERP provider, and the need to consider these in future negotiations. 36 Implementing ClearGov was noted as unsuitable for FY 2027 due to workload; instead, they'd aim for a 37 2026 contract with no immediate costs, starting in January 2027 for readiness by FY 2028, utilizing 38 populated FY 2027 data. The committee agreed to review the full contract, ensure no data release fees 39 from Cassell, and confirm all workflows are included. 40 Action Items: 41 • Andrews and Gannik to obtain updated contract documents with a January 1, 2027 start date, 42 same pricing, and no 2026 fees. 43 • Staff to confirm with Cassell that data release will not incur additional charges. 44 • Staff to confirm that all applicable Village budget spreadsheets and workflows will be covered 45 under the selected option. 46 Minutes of the June 8, 2026, Meeting of the Finance Committee – Approved 2 • Staff to review full contract language and return to the Finance Committee at the July meeting 1 prior to forwarding to the Village Board. 2 3 7. Discussion/Action Items 46:18 4 a. Budgeting Software Discussion 5 Discussion continued from the ClearGov presentation. The committee reviewed community feedback 6 obtained from four Wisconsin municipalities currently using ClearGov. Feedback was generally more 7 favorable among smaller communities with smooth onboarding experiences, while larger communities 8 expressed mixed satisfaction, citing onboarding difficulties and concerns about cost relative to value. 9 The committee reached consensus that Option 2 is the preferred approach, contingent upon the contract 10 and staff review described above. The matter will return to the Finance Committee at the July 2026 11 meeting for final recommendation to the Village Board. 12 13 b. Casselle; Proposal for Utility Software 1:24:44 14 Cassell proposed replacing the Village's utility bill payment platform from Express Bill Pay with Cassell's 15 Community Connect Citizen Portal. David from Cassell highlighted benefits, including instant payment 16 posting to the general ledger, removal of the $25,000 holding account, direct staff refunds, correction of 17 misapplied payments, paperless billing, self-service setup, and easier deposit reconciliation. The system's 18 cost is $100 monthly plus standard card fees like current charges. Gannik advised delaying the transition 19 until Q2 2027 to lessen financial reconciliation risks, though Kara suggested a September –October 2026 20 rollout to avoid operating two systems. David confirmed signing the agreement soon would waive a 21 $1,200 setup fee and secure implementation scheduling without fixing a start date. 22 23 Motion to approve the Cassell Community Connect utility software proposal, with staff authorized to 24 determine the appropriate implementation timeline, was made by White and seconded by Laszkiewicz. 25 Motion carried — all ayes. 26 Action Items: 27 • Staff to review the agreement forwarded by Cassell and confirm acceptable terms. 28 • Gannik and Utility Billing Staff to coordinate and confirm preferred implementation start date. 29 30 c. 2025 Budget; Year-End to Actuals 1:41:07 31 Gannik presented preliminary FY 2025 year -end financial results, noting that figures remain unaudited 32 and subject to change. Initially, an expenditure variance under budget was reported at $587,000; 33 however, a subsequent $319,172 transfer to the debt service fund was identified and recorded, reducing 34 the effective underspend to approximately $200,000 (7% under budget). A $100,000 transfer from TID 35 No. 1 to the General Fund helped address a preliminary deficit, resulting in a surplus of $40,000. TID No. 36 1's fund balance was deemed sufficient for covering debt obligations, with an additional $100,000 above 37 the debt coverage threshold. Howson pointed out a notable underspend in Recreation Facilities requires 38 follow-up, and Laszkiewicz suggested reviewing multi-year departmental trends to clarify budget patterns. 39 Gannik highlighted changes to avoid end -of-year spending of balances, contributing to underspending, 40 and improvements to revenue recording with CLA under new GASB standards. 41 Action Items: 42 • Gannik to present updated year-end figures once the audit is finalized. 43 • Staff to prepare multi-year departmental trend data for use during FY 2027 budget development. 44 • Gannik to explore presentation of budget -to-actual variances as percentages to establish 45 benchmark thresholds for future reporting. 46 47 d. 2027 CIP and Budget: Preliminary Review and Discussion 2:14:30 48 Minutes of the June 8, 2026, Meeting of the Finance Committee – Approved 3 Andrews presented a proposed budget development schedule for FY 2027, structured to meet statutory 1 requirements and provide adequate time for staff preparation, Finance Committee review, and Village 2 Board adoption. 3 The following meeting dates were established: 4 • July 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM — Regular Finance Committee meeting (CIP preliminary review) 5 • July 27, 2026 at 10:00 AM — Finance Committee budget workshop 6 • August 2026 — TBD; to be confirmed at the July 13th meeting with full committee 7 • September 2026 and beyond — Per the schedule presented in the packet 8 The committee noted that Baird is expected to present the TID 101 and TID Overview Services 9 presentations at an upcoming Finance Committee meeting, with Village Board members invited to attend. 10 Howson requested that staff inquire with Baird regarding the status of DOR implementation guidance for 11 Act 235 (residential tax increment district legislation), which remained pending at the time of the prior 12 presentation. 13 Action Items: 14 • Clerk Thyssen to book the meeting room for July 13 and July 27 at 10:00 AM. 15 • Andrews to coordinate with Baird to schedule the TID 101 and TID Overview Services 16 presentations at an upcoming Finance Committee meeting and invite Village Board members. 17 • Andrews to inquire with Baird regarding the status of DOR Act 235 implementation guidance. 18 • August Finance Committee date to be finalized at the July 13th meeting. 19 20 e. Propane for Village Facility 2:39:22 21 Andrews presented historical propane expenditure data for Village facilities. The Village has maintained 22 an informal relationship with Ferrell Gas as its primary supplier, with no contract currently in place. FY 23 2025 propane expenditures totaled approximately $48,000 across all facilities. The committee discussed 24 whether to pursue a formal competitive bid process (RFP) or direct procurement outreach to alternative 25 vendors. 26 The committee agreed that direct procurement — contacting available providers for quotes without a 27 formal RFP — was the appropriate approach, and that any potential new provider should be asked to 28 address tank swap-out and installation costs as part of their proposal. Staff noted the Village likely owns 29 its tanks, which would provide flexibility in vendor selection. 30 Motion to direct staff to obtain propane quotes from selected providers through a direct procurement 31 process and return with a summary for committee consideration was made by Howson and seconded by 32 Laszkiewicz. Motion carried — all ayes. 33 Action Items: 34 • Andrews to contact Ferrell Gas, the co-op, Lakes Gas, and Gas Co. for competitive propane pricing 35 quotes for all Village facilities. 36 • Staff to confirm ownership status of Village propane tanks. 37 • Staff to inquire whether vendors will waive tank swap -out and installation fees in exchange for a 38 service contract. 39 • Quotes to be returned to the Finance Committee for review and vendor selection. 40 41 8. Matters to be Placed on a Future Agenda or Referred to a Committee, Official or Employee 2:47:22 42 The following items were confirmed for placement on future Finance Committee agendas: 43 a. TID 101 Presentation 44 To be scheduled at an upcoming Finance Committee meeting; Village Board members to be invited. 45 b. TID Overview Services Presentation 46 To be scheduled in coordination with Baird; pending finalization of their materials. 47 c. TID Assistance Policy Review 48 Minutes of the June 8, 2026, Meeting of the Finance Committee – Approved 4 To be deferred until after the TID Overview Services Presentation is completed. 1 d. 2027 CIP: Preliminary Review and Discussion 2 Scheduled for the July 13, 2026 Finance Committee meeting. 3 e. 2027 Budget: Preliminary Review and Discussion 4 To follow the CIP review per the budget development schedule. 5 6 9. Next Meeting 2:53:00 7 The next regular Finance Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM . A 8 budget workshop is also scheduled for Monday, July 27, 2026 at 10:00 AM . An August meeting date 9 remains to be determined. 10 11 10. Adjourn 2:43:02 12 Motion to adjourn at 1:44 PM was made by White and seconded by Howson. Motion carried — all ayes. 13 14 Minutes Submitted by Julie Thyssen, Village Clerk 15