Agenda Packets - 1985/01/02 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

TO: Mayor 6 City Council FROM: Finance Director -Treasurer Brayer DATE: December 20, 1984 RE: PURCHASE OF PERSONAL COMPUTER The 1985 Budget contains an appropriation of $20,000 for a Finance Department computer system and software. Originally this appropriation was proposed to fund the purchase of a computer system which would handle accounting and financial reporting, utility billing, and payroll. During the budget process it was determined that other departments could benefit from computerization and that some of the monies budgeted should be used to hire a consultant to assist in determining the City's needs relative to computerization and also to assist' in finding a computer system that would meet those needs. I believe that that approach will best serve the City's interests in the long run and ultimately result in a more efficient operation. The Finance Department, however, has data processing needs which should be met now. I propose that a personal computer be purchased for the Finance Department. The City has contracted with a privately owned computer service bureau for processing of City payroll for the past six years. City Accountant, Mary Tatarek, and I were satisfied with this service until about a year ago. The firm we originally contracted with has been purchased and sold three times in the last two years. The latest owner scrapped the payroll program we were on and has forced us to use another program. That payroll program is lousy. It was not specifically designed for cities as the previous one was and does not meet our needs. Additionally in the past six months we have not had a payroll that did not contain processing errors. If we had a personal computer, payroll could be done in house on a system which has been designed specifically for cities. Presently the Phillips Micom Word Processor is used extensively by City staff. Finance Department personnel use it for data entry and transmission of data to the Ramsey County computer for production of utility billings and payments, accounts payable checks and financial reporting. The secretaries use it for the Council packets, memoranda, and correspondence. As a consequence of this extensive use the Finance Department has had a limited opportunity to use it for budget preparation and electronic spreadsheet applications. Purchase of a personal computer along with electronic spread software would allow the department to become more efficient in budget preparation as well as in the preparation of audit workpapers and schedules.