COUNCIL … Members of the Wauseon City Council discuss a possible change of the city’s payroll system. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Jacob Kessler
The Wauseon City Council held their meeting on Monday, January 18th. The meeting began at 5:00 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer.
Council first moved to approve the minutes from the meeting held on January 3rd and Committee of the Whole meeting held on January 12th.
Council then heard a report from the Director of Finance Jamie Giguere. Included in the report was the fact that an email had been sent out containing a financial report before discussing the 2022 estimate vs a software report.
Moving to Committee reports, councilor Shane Chamberlin spoke about the payroll vender that has been getting looked into.
It was decided to discuss the issue more under new business. Moving on, the following legislative items were approved by council.
The first reading of Resolution 2023-1 authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement for technical assistance for the revolving loan fund with Maumee Valley Planning Organization; and declaring an emergency.
The third reading of Resolution 2022-40 authorizing the mayor to renew an agreement with Schonhardt & Associates for accounting services needed to handle the “gaap” accounting.
Under new business, council first moved to approve a list of names for appointment to different commissions and boards before moving on to discuss the payroll vender.
Chamberlin explained that the city is looking into possibly getting a new payroll system. Three companies that each have their own software were looked at, with each having their own pros and cons.
The company Paylocity was discussed the most with council going over what it is able to do for the city versus what the current company is able to offer.
Mayor Kathy Huner stated that she was in favor of a software that would make onboarding new employees easier.
It was also stated by Law Director Thomas McWatters III that council member Sarah Heising’s husband works for Paylocity, but that it was his opinion after looking at the facts that he would be in no way able to benefit from the city hiring the company, and that there would be no legal issue with moving forward with them.
Discussions followed after with items being discussed such as how outdated the current system is, the cost of the new software, and if at a later date, the city decided to switch companies, would the data be held hostage by the company.
It was stated that a provision would be added into the contract to make sure that did not happen.
A motion was made by council to switch the city’s payroll system to Paylocity. A vote took place with the result being 5-1 with Chamberlin being the no vote.
Council then moved on to pay the bills before moving to adjourn at 5:40 p.m.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com