Milford council approves migration from Cassell to modern hosted accounting system; migration costs and savings outlined

Milford’s City Council voted Jan. 20 to approve a planned migration of the city’s accounting and financial software away from its incumbent 'Cassell' system to a modern hosted platform referenced in packet materials as Pelorus (packet materials also use the names 'Dolores' and 'Polaris'). Staff said the change would add features such as online timekeeping, purchase orders and built-in asset management to calculate depreciation more accurately.

Unidentified Speaker 2 explained the migration would cost approximately $17,300 to import 10 years of historical data. Hosting would cost $180 per month ($1,800 per year) and staff estimated a net annual savings of about $5,025 compared with the city’s current costs on Cassell. Staff also recommended staying with a hosted deployment model for cybersecurity reasons and noted the transition was tentatively scheduled for Feb. 9–13.

Council members who had looked at peer experience reported time-saving benefits in other jurisdictions and supported the move; the council voted in favor of the transition.

Next steps: staff will finalize vendor agreements, schedule the migration in February and monitor initial issues during the switchover.