Carroll County Auditor, Kourtney Payer, presented information to the Board of Supervisors Monday regarding a proposal for software that tracks fixed assets. She says the State Auditor’s Office had previously provided them with a spreadsheet for use when they conduct annual audits.
In their contract with Tyler Technologies, Payer says they did not have asset tracking included. Since reporting is required, she outlined the costs to integrate that software.
She says this makes the most sense since they are already using the Tyler Technologies software to do payables. Payer says, like anything, there will be an annual cost. It is her understanding that the $1,865 will be ongoing because it is identified in the quote as annual software services. Currently, software maintenance costs are drawn out of the IT Department’s budget. Payer says they may have to do a budget amendment to add this in. She says they could wait until July, the next fiscal year, but the auditors will be in for their annual review before that time and they will need to see this information. The Secondary Roads Department has a large number of the county’s fixed assets, and both Zac Andersen, the Carroll County Engineer, and Payer agree that the biggest issue will be getting all of the existing assets transferred to the new portion of the program.
Supervisor, Dean Schettler, says the streamlining of the process would be good, but he asks about the ability to create a spreadsheet and save the money. Payer says that could be done as well, but she would not be calculating the depreciation. Chair, Gene Meiners, says the upside is that it is tied into the software they are using for the rest of their accounting for payables. Andersen points to the main issues for his department, determining how to enter the data and getting through the learning curve needed to update to this type of software. In the end, Payer will be seeking out more information on the options available and bringing it back to the board at a future date.
