FINANCES
FISCAL DECISIONS MAKE a difference The City of Minot made good on a promise Mayor Sipma made in January of 2019, by reducing its budgeted mill levy for the 2020 budget. In September of 2019, Council approved its budget that reduced the City’s mill levy from129.23 mills, to 121.29. That’s because, in April, the City’s Recreation and Auditorium Department was transferred to Minot Park District, which reduced the City’s levy by nearly 8 mills. This section outlines several other methods the City of Minot worked to improve its systems, processes, or other decisions that will help further improve the financial status for the City and the residents.
STREAMLINING BUSINESS
C
ity of Minot employees have already invested countless hours into the new enterprise resource planning software system (ERP) purchased by the City – and there will be plenty more work before the first module of the system goes live in October 2020. City Finance Director David Lakefield said the current ERP system dates back to the mid-1990s, and although there have been multiple software updates, the system is outdated and difficult to navigate. The new system, known as the Tyler Munis system from Tyler Technologies, will upgrade multiple aspects of the City’s dayto-day functions, both internal and external. Financial processes, purchasing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, human resources, payroll, utility billing, and other procedures will undergo massive changes. While the end result will streamline many of the City’s processes, and save countless man hours, the sheer amount of work to make the transition successful
includes thousands of hours by a long list of City employees. “It’s a huge project. We’re so far behind the curve, so now to get caught up is a big task,” Lakefield said. “It’s going to put a strain on some things in the next couple of years. It’s going to be a big change for some employees, and that’s why we have a Change Management Team to help make the transition as painless as possible.” Lakefield said the process to replace the aging system began more than 16 months ago, culminating in the selec-
THE MAIN POINT
tion of a vendor in April. Three companies submitted bids, with Tyler chosen to present a two-day demonstration. The massive project will be completed in four phases: • Phase 1: Financial, scheduled to go live October 2020 • Phase 2: Payroll, scheduled to go live January 2021 • Phase 3: Human resources, scheduled to go live April 2021 • Phase 4: Utility billing, scheduled to go live October 2021 Lakefield and a host of other City employees are currently working with representatives from Tyler to design aspects of each module within the system. Some of the meetings have has been conducted via remote connections, but for the past few weeks, reps from Tyler have been spending three days a week in Minot discussing and designing the different modules. “Sometimes we may have four or five employees meeting them on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, but sometimes we’ll have 10 or 12 people at those meetings,” Lakefield said. “The amount of time put in by our employees for this project is amazing, and there is still so much work to do.” “We have a Change Management Team and we’ve asked for input
The end result will streamline many of the City’s processes, and save countless employee hours
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