Summary
To: Town Commission
From: Stefan Massol, Director of Support Services
Date: 10/1/2019
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Subject:
Title
Recurring ACH for Utility Billing
Summary:
Staff will present recurring ACH for Utility Billing customers and an implementation plan
End
Body
Previous Commission Action: None.
Background/Problem Discussion: Automated Clearing House, or ACH, is a payment method by which checks are processed directly between banks electronically. Many utility service providers offer customers the option to have their bill payment drafted directly from their bank account by ACH. In recent years, utility customers have increasingly requested the option to pay their bills through recurring ACH, particularly those who make their payment after the due date.
In the past the Town this service because all of the ACH data for customers would have been stored locally on our servers. However, since the Town has migrated hosting of its utility billing information into the cloud, data security will be more manageable.
Customer convenience is the leading reason for making this change, however there are many other ancillary benefits to the Town. It is expected that many customers will opt to participate in this program, especially those who have ever forgotten to pay and incurred late penalties as a result. When customers pay their bills on time, substantial time is saved for utility billing staff who pursue a range of collection efforts. This would significantly reduce the probability of a customer not receiving and/or paying their bill, especially final bills for outgoing customers. It would be staff's recommendation to offer customers who incur a late penalty a one-time courtesy option to have the penalty waived for enrolling in recurring ACH.
Utility payments by ACH would be processed at least one week after the beginning of each month, allowing some time for residents to review their statement for any per...
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