Scarsdale, New York
A NY Town Eliminated Two Full Days of Capital Budget Hearings with Budgeting Software

Primary Objective

Optimize Technology and Transparency

Modernize and simplify the Village’s budgeting, capital planning, and financial transparency processes, improving internal efficiency and resident engagement.

Background

A Commitment to Technology and Transparency

Located in Westchester County, New York, the Village of Scarsdale serves a community of about 18,000 residents. The Village heavily values transparency and possesses a unique, completely transparent budgeting process that lasts nine months.

Ann Scaglione is the Village Treasurer, overseeing all financial operations for an annual budget of roughly $85 million. Scaglione brings a strong affinity for technology to her role, which has shaped the Village’s approach to modernizing its financial systems. 

Challenge

Too Many Spreadsheets, Too Little Time

Before ClearGov, Scarsdale’s budget and capital planning processes were mired in manual effort: dozens of Excel files, PDF reports, and disconnected submissions from departments. The Village’s nine-month budget cycle demanded constant transparency, but maintaining it took countless hours and came with high risk of error or inconsistency. Even basic version control and formatting were a struggle.

Solution

One Demo, Three Products, Instant Buy-In

After seeing a ClearGov demo at a New York GFOA event, Scaglione immediately adopted Digital Budget Book, Capital Budgeting, and Transparency for Scarsdale. The tools gave structure to project requests, aligned budgeting with Village values, and replaced outdated workflows with user-friendly automation.

ClearGov Capital Budgeting allowed departments to use standardized templates and submission timelines. Scarsdale uses Capital Budgeting’s online submission forms to standardize capital project entries across departments, ensuring consistency in the type and quality of information submitted. ClearGov Capital Budgeting’s built-in project scoring feature allows the Village to prioritize capital investments using defined evaluation criteria that reflect Scarsdale’s core values.

Scarsdale’s Transparency Center allowed Scaglione to upload 10 years of historical financial data, creating a self-service resource for residents. The Digital Budget Book allowed Scaglione to control visual presentation and ensured that data stayed consistent across reports.

I was able to see how much time ClearGov was going to save us and how it was going to elevate the reporting. When you can share your story financially at the push of a button, it’s really amazing.

Implentation

A Quick Onboarding and Trusted Partnership

Scaglione implemented ClearGov by herself, without help from her IT department. Uploading historical data and configuring templates was done via Excel files, and ClearGov’s tools enabled self-service updates. Scaglione appreciated how ClearGov’s team listens to user feedback and incorporates it into product updates. Her direct request to upload data directly resulted in the release of a self-upload feature..

ClearGov support staff were consistently responsive and quick to loop in product teams when needed. Ann’s rep followed up promptly and escalated issues when necessary. Over time, ClearGov even collaborated with her to explore additional use cases like monthly reporting.

I love that you’re constantly improving your products at ClearGov. And I really feel like my comments over the years have been addressed by the company, which is something that you don’t always see.

Results

Meetings Eliminated, Residents Empowered, Processes Transformed

ClearGov helped Scarsdale save time, eliminate inefficiencies, and improve public trust. From removing the need for two full days of capital request hearings to turning budget maintenance into a streamlined, graphical process, the impact has been broad and measurable. The Village now delivers transparency and precision without the chaos of spreadsheets.

Key outcomes:

• Eliminated Two Full Days of Capital Budget Hearings: Departments no longer need to present projects in marathon meetings. The board can now review all details in ClearGov anytime.
• Streamlined Monthly and Annual Reporting: ClearGov tools are now used beyond budget season, including for regular monthly reporting.
• Improved Data Integrity and Consistency: Budget data automatically flows across pages, eliminating error-prone manual syncing.
• Effortless Advance Planning: The Village avidly uses ClearGov Capital Budgeting’s five-year capital forecasting tools to visualize and plan infrastructure spending over multiple years.
• Enhanced Internal Collaboration: Departments collaborate in real time, commenting on each other’s capital requests and the budget book as they develop.
• More Transparent and Accessible to the Public: ClearGov Transparency provides interactive visuals that allow residents to explore revenues and expenditures over time, fostering self-service and reducing ad hoc requests.
• Tailored Visuals for All Audiences: Scarsdale uses ClearGov Digital Budget Book’s built-in graphics to highlight key trends, while retaining control over which visuals to display for specific audiences.

As Scaglione puts it, ClearGov has, “touched every piece of my budgeting process and it’s improved it.” We can do the same for your public agency, too.

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