The Monona City Council on Oct. 20 authorized acceptance of a Wisconsin Emergency Management cybersecurity grant of $29,150 to expand multifactor authentication (MFA) across city systems.

Leah (appearing online) said LandTech, an IT consulting firm, applied for the grant on the city’s behalf. The grant award will be used to require MFA for employee access to city networks, the city’s accounting and payroll software and possibly the city website. Leah said the grant is reimbursement-only, so the city must purchase the authenticator software and tokens up front and then request reimbursement from the state. Staff told the council the city would use fund balance to cover upfront costs pending reimbursement.

Council members and staff discussed how to classify the purchase for accounting. Staff said treating multi-year licenses and hardware as a prepaid expense amortized over five years would be appropriate; for ease of bookkeeping staff recommended recording the expenditure in the capital budget but said they could split operating and capital costs if the council preferred. Staff also noted the resolution’s name and classification would be amended to match the accounting treatment.

A motion to approve the resolution accepting the grant passed by voice vote.

The resolution authorizes staff to accept the Wisconsin Emergency Management grant, purchase the necessary MFA software and tokens using fund balance, and request state reimbursement.