(June 30, 2016) The Town of Berlin is sending out about 2,000 letters to its utility customers this week, hoping to spread the word that credit card payments will not be able to be processed by the town for a two-to-three week period, starting July 4.
The lapse will be caused by an upgrade to the town’s billing software, as it switches over from Logic Solutions to Tyler Technologies. The Town Council approved the change last May.
“Because we’re changing the utility billing system – which means we’re also changing credit card companies – we’re going to need to suspend, for two-to-three weeks, our ability to accept credit cards,” Town Administrator Laura Allen said. “This will affect all of our transactions – not just utility billing customers, but anybody who comes to town who wants to pay for, say, a building permit by credit card.
“Unfortunately, it’s a little inconvenient for our customers, so we’re trying to get the word out so they can plan accordingly,” she added.
Allen said the town would continue to accept cash and checks for all transactions.
She was not sure how many utility customers would be affected, but said the town did not have “a ton of people signed up for online payments.”
“The vast majority of our payments are by check and in cash. There’s not that many by credit card,” she said. “When we initially started thinking about this transition, that’s where our focus was, thinking we would need to just pull the online payment down,” she said. “As we worked more closely with the vendor, we realized what we would need to do is suspend the credit card payment acceptance for everything.”
Along with mailing letters to its utility customers, Allen said the town would post an announcement on its website. Press releases were also issued this week.
“Not everybody is going to read those letters, so we’re using various forms of communication to help get the word out,” she said. “This is not an unusual element in a financial system change – it’s just part of the process. It’s one of many moving pieces that we have with the utility billing change.”
Allen said the changeover would take several weeks because of the complexity of switching so many town systems.
While it’s a temporary inconvenience for customers, she said the benefit would be better service, including new bills that will be easier to read. The new systems will feature detailed usage charts that will allow utility customers to compare current activity to their service from the previous year.
“The new software has a more sophisticated online portal feature,” Allen said. “For the people who are paying via credit card or using the online portal to track their information, it’s a more robust system than what we have currently.”
As for the fees associated with online transactions, for now the town will continue to pick up the tab. The council had approved passing service charges onto individual online customers, rather than the taxpayers, but Allen said the details of exactly how that would work are still being ironed out.
“We believe in a process of continuous improvement in Berlin,” Mayor Gee Williams said in a press release this week. “Not all change is easy, even the change you initiate. Once the billing transition is completed, I trust our customers will agree that the temporary inconvenience will be worth it in the long run.”
The lapse will be caused by an upgrade to the town’s billing software, as it switches over from Logic Solutions to Tyler Technologies. The Town Council approved the change last May.
“Because we’re changing the utility billing system – which means we’re also changing credit card companies – we’re going to need to suspend, for two-to-three weeks, our ability to accept credit cards,” Town Administrator Laura Allen said. “This will affect all of our transactions – not just utility billing customers, but anybody who comes to town who wants to pay for, say, a building permit by credit card.
“Unfortunately, it’s a little inconvenient for our customers, so we’re trying to get the word out so they can plan accordingly,” she added.
Allen said the town would continue to accept cash and checks for all transactions.
She was not sure how many utility customers would be affected, but said the town did not have “a ton of people signed up for online payments.”
“The vast majority of our payments are by check and in cash. There’s not that many by credit card,” she said. “When we initially started thinking about this transition, that’s where our focus was, thinking we would need to just pull the online payment down,” she said. “As we worked more closely with the vendor, we realized what we would need to do is suspend the credit card payment acceptance for everything.”
Along with mailing letters to its utility customers, Allen said the town would post an announcement on its website. Press releases were also issued this week.
“Not everybody is going to read those letters, so we’re using various forms of communication to help get the word out,” she said. “This is not an unusual element in a financial system change – it’s just part of the process. It’s one of many moving pieces that we have with the utility billing change.”
Allen said the changeover would take several weeks because of the complexity of switching so many town systems.
While it’s a temporary inconvenience for customers, she said the benefit would be better service, including new bills that will be easier to read. The new systems will feature detailed usage charts that will allow utility customers to compare current activity to their service from the previous year.
“The new software has a more sophisticated online portal feature,” Allen said. “For the people who are paying via credit card or using the online portal to track their information, it’s a more robust system than what we have currently.”
As for the fees associated with online transactions, for now the town will continue to pick up the tab. The council had approved passing service charges onto individual online customers, rather than the taxpayers, but Allen said the details of exactly how that would work are still being ironed out.
“We believe in a process of continuous improvement in Berlin,” Mayor Gee Williams said in a press release this week. “Not all change is easy, even the change you initiate. Once the billing transition is completed, I trust our customers will agree that the temporary inconvenience will be worth it in the long run.”