by Brent Hovey
Reporter
Aurora -- People can do just about anything online.
And paying off credit card, phone and other bills over the Internet is a convenience many have taken advantage of.
The city is hoping to give the same opportunity to its residents to pay their utility -- water and sewer -- bills.
At the July 14 finance committee meeting, members favored a proposed ordinance to allow Aurora citizens to pay their utility bills online. The measure now will go to City Council.
Mayor Lynn McGill said the city looked into the program back in 2006, but the matter never gathered the support it needed because of a conflict over fees.
At the time, the city wanted to pass the cost on to the cardholders, but that was not possible. Now it is.
An average 2.02 percent convenience fee will be charged on each customer's transaction if he or she wishes to pay by credit card.
"We were attempting to look at a credit card program that would not cost the city money, but would allow citizens a convenient way to pay their bills," said McGill.
The proposed program is through a partnership with Fifth-Third Bank and an online payment portal called Skipjack, a Fifth-Third partner.
The program works by allowing a resident to log onto the city Web site and clicking the utility/water/sewer payment link, according to McGill.
THEN THE resident will punch in his or her credit card information.
A message will appear that indicates there is a convenience fee for processing the payment. The customer will have to confirm an understanding of the fee to go forward.
The customer will receive e-mail confirmation of the transaction.
The convenience fee is a percentage of the total bill, and city officials have estimated it will be about 2.02 percent per bill.
For example, if a customer has a bill of about $190, the fee would be $3.83, making the total $193.83.
The only out-of-pocket cost to the city would be a $150 license fee to Skipjack to set up the payment system.
If a resident doesn't have Internet access at home, he or she can visit the utilities department to pay with a credit card. He or she would pay using a computer just like at home, and the same convenience fee would apply.
Tim Kurcz of Fifth-Third said the only credit cards accepted will be MasterCard and Discover.
"They are the only companies that allow convenience fees," he said. "Convenience fees are something new and they're exclusive to municipalities."
Kurcz estimated only about 5 percent of bills would be paid with credit cards online in the first year, but added "numbers would increase year after year."
E-mail:
bhovey@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3115