Lehner called it "a wash" before anyone pulled the ledger. The ledger disagreed.
In August 2025 the city administrator said the outside accounting firm would cost about $200,000 and an in-house finance director about $130,000. On July 14, 2026 he told the council the two were "pretty much a wash." The ledger had not been pulled.
Kenyon has not had a finance director since July 17, 2025. The work has been done since then by Abdo, an accounting firm in Mankato whose proposal describes clients "ranging from 1,000 to 25,000 in population." Whether to keep paying the firm or hire a person has come up at three council meetings, and the answer has changed each time.
His own number, August 2025
When the council approved the Abdo contract on August 12, 2025, City Administrator Scott Lehner recommended "postponing the hire of a finance officer to allow Abdo time to get our accounting back on track." He gave the Kenyon Leader the comparison he was working from.
The total cost could come in at around $200,000, compared to around $130,000 for the cost of having a full time finance director.Scott Lehner, as reported by the Kenyon Leader, August 2025.
He added that he was "frugal like that," and that if he thought for one second the work could be done in-house "we'd be having that conversation." By his own arithmetic the firm cost about $70,000 a year more. Two weeks later he opened a budget work session by clarifying the remarks, saying staff was capable of the duties but the volume of rework required the firm. The gap was not revised. It was set aside.
The question, July 2026
Deanna Gard was appointed to the council in April 2026, after the accounting had moved to Abdo. On July 14 she asked for a breakdown of the contracted-services lines across departments, with vendors and costs 1:17:56. Jessi Sturtz of Abdo said she did not have that detail pulled up 1:23:01. Gard asked for it "more broken down" 1:23:24, then asked whether it had been looked at "to hire someone in house to do this, like the person previous did it" 1:24:30.
What we're getting out of Abdo or what we would do with a finance director in house is pretty much a wash.Scott Lehner, July 14, 2026, 1:25:31.
He said he was finalizing a comparison that Thursday and put the in-house wages at "approximately $90,000." The city's posted rate for the job is $40.45 an hour, which is $84,136 for a full year. Asked why he preferred the firm at equal cost, he gave reasons without a number in them: "you don't know exactly what level you're going to get" 1:26:49, "my biggest fear is we start creeping back to maybe how things were done in the past" 1:27:05, and "I as your city administrator would like to see us stay with Abdo because I have worked with" them 1:27:24. Lee Sjolander said he had supported bringing in Abdo to get things back on track but had wanted someone in the office; when he was police chief he could walk into the finance office and ask what a line item meant.
The same recording holds the firm's account of its own work that month. Sturtz said the fire levy line in her draft was wrong 59:34 and that the administration budget was up $93,550 because Abdo's invoices had been coded there 1:04:34. The draft levy opened at 19.5 percent.
Has it been looked at to hire someone in house to do this, like the person previous did it? How much of a cost differentiation would that be? Are we talking tens of thousands of dollars? How hard is it to hire someone?Deanna Gard, July 14, 2026, 1:24:30, source
The comparison, September 2026
The comparison arrived on September 8 as a one-page staff report. Abdo: $109,000 for accounting, $30,000 for human resources, $25,800 for payroll, $164,800 in all. An in-house director: $167,100, built from "approximately $90,000" in wages and "approximately $63,000" in family health, dental and life insurance for one employee. The in-house figure the same office had put at $130,000 in August 2025 had grown by $37,100 without anyone being hired. The page closes with five advantages of "our team-based service model," in the vendor's words.
The firm billed $66,086 in 2025 and $94,372 from January through August 2026, a run rate near $141,600 a year. The FY2025 audit, the first year with Abdo keeping the books, carries three material weaknesses. The audit committee that would ordinarily test a claim like "a wash" was eliminated on January 14, 2025, the administrator's first regular meeting, after he raised the question with the mayor 30:44. The verdict came in July. The numbers came in September. They did not agree.
They're in the same dollar amount.Scott Lehner, July 14, 2026, 1:25:31, source
Before and after
- Jan. 14, 2025The council eliminates the audit committee 5-0 in the administrator's first regular meeting.
- July 17, 2025Finance Director Whitney Kyllo's resignation takes effect; the job is never refilled.
- Aug. 12, 2025The council approves the Abdo contract 4-0; the administrator recommends postponing the hire.
- Aug. 26, 2025He opens the budget work session by clarifying his remarks to the Leader.
- July 14, 2026Asked for a breakdown and a comparison, he calls it "pretty much a wash" before the ledger is pulled.
- Sept. 8, 2026The comparison arrives: Abdo $164,800, an in-house director $167,100.
What the statute says
The council shall have full authority over the financial affairs of the city, and shall provide for the collection of all revenues and other assets, the auditing and settlement of accounts, and the safekeeping and disbursement of public money.
The numbers are the council's responsibility by statute, not the administrator's and not a vendor's.
The governing body of every state and local government should establish an audit committee or its equivalent
Kenyon had one every year from 2019 through 2024 and eliminated it on Jan. 14, 2025.
People in this story
- Scott LehnerCity administrator since December 2024
- Deanna GardCouncil member, appointed April 14, 2026
- Jessi SturtzManager of Abdo's team for Kenyon, presenting by Zoom
- Lee SjolanderCouncil member and former Kenyon police chief
- Holli GudknechtDeputy clerk, submitted the Sept. 8 staff report
Sources
- City of Kenyon recording, July 14, 2026, at 59:34, 1:04:34, 1:17:56, 1:23:01, 1:23:24, 1:24:30, 1:25:31, 1:26:49, 1:27:05, 1:27:24.
- Minutes, August 12, 2025; Kenyon Leader, "Kenyon approves new contract with Abdo for finance, HR services," August 2025.
- Council packet, September 8, 2026, "Abdo vs. Internal Finance Director."
- Abdo payments from the check registers, contracts page; material weaknesses, the open letter.
- Audit committee elimination: recording, January 14, 2025, 30:44; minutes in the February 11, 2025 packet.
More from the record
The city's own advisor said $800,000. The council gave the developer $1,855,000 and asked questions later.
Abdo's manager, on the record: the fire levy line is wrong and our invoices were coded to the wrong department.
Your electric bill rises 27.6 percent over five years. It passed on consent, no discussion, and no minutes are posted.
All 27, in order · The open letter · Every packet and recording