City Manager's IFYI
Mar. 6, 2008
DATE: March 4, 2008
MEMO TO: Mayor & City Council
FROM: Mitchell Johnson, City Manager
SUBJECT: Items for Your Information
City of Greensboro Payment Options:
Citizens may currently select from four payment alternatives (without fees) to make payments to the City of Greensboro, including: (1) Pay by Mail, checks mailed to City P.O. Box, (2) Pay in Person, payments accepted in cash, by check or debit/credit card, (3) Bank “Bill Pay” system, and (4) Pay by Bank Account Draft.
Mail Payments - Currently the City processes about 580,000 payment transactions a year. In 2007, more than half (57%) or 330,000 were checks mailed to the City’s post office box. These payments are processed on a mail remittance machine located in the Melvin Municipal Office Building (MMOB). Most of these payments were from water and sewer customers who regularly paid in this manner each quarter.
Pay in Person - Citizens may also walk into MMOB and the Kitchen Operations Center (KOC) from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday and pay in cash or by check or debit/credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Amex, and Discover). Nearly one-third of annual payment transactions are made in person at MMOB or KOC. (12% paid in cash (68,000 transactions), 14% paid by check (78,000 transactions) and 3% paid by debit/credit card (16,000 transactions) in 2007.] The majority of walk-in collection activity is served by KOC, which has grown to accommodate 70% of our walk-in business.
Internet Banking – Citizens may also pay us over the Internet, directly from their bank website, using their bank’s “Bill Pay” feature. This practice has been in use since the late 1990’s with steadily increasing usage noted in recent years. In August 2005, the City made certain technology changes to allow us to both receive these payments electronically and automatically apply payment to the customer’s account without manual processing. In 2007, we received approximately 57,000 transactions (10%) electronically from “Bill Pay” customers. The typical time for the City to receive a payment in this manner is 2 to 3 days from the time a customer initiates payment in their bank’s system.
Bank Account Draft - Another payment option is for the City to automatically “draft” a customer’s bank account at the time of each utility billing, following an initial set up by the customer. Currently 5,669 quarterly and monthly water and sewer customers use this method to pay, which totals 30,000 annual transactions. This payment method provides customers with immediate account settlement and has the lowest processing cost for the City.
2008 Pending Payment Options – The City is in the process of developing two additional payment options, to include the acceptance of customer payments over the internet at the City’s website and also over the phone. These payments options will be subject to a convenience fee and will be available by the fall of 2008. A full staff report on this and other customer service initiatives will follow.
New Channel 13 Program Addresses Community Questions:
Public Affairs will begin airing a new program on Channel 13, beginning March 7, which will focus on Greensboro’s law enforcement efforts and programs. The program, titled “Greensboro Police Department: In Service,” will be unlike past City programming in that it will feature hosted interviews, with occasional video clips to illustrate speakers’ points. Guests will speak to topics and questions of interest to the public in the area of local law enforcement. The program will be hosted by Jeron Hollis of Public Affairs.
The first program focuses on response times and 911 calls. It features Chief Tim Bellamy and Guilford Metro 911 Director Wesley Reid. The second program will focus on gangs and efforts to prevent gang violence. At the end of each month’s program, viewers will be told the next month’s topics and invited to submit their questions on that topic to our Contact Center via phone or e-mail. We do not anticipate running out of topics anytime soon, but the public and City Council members are welcome to submit not only questions but topics for consideration for the program.
We think you will be pleased with “GPD: In Service,” which is made possible through hourly rental of studio time at a local television station.
Park Watch Program:
The Park Watch program is a partnership between the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department, the Greensboro Police Department, and city residents to reduce crime, vandalism, and illegal activities in our neighborhood parks. The program was modeled after Community Watch and Lake Watch programs. Park Watch provides citizens guidelines to follow when reporting suspicious activities, helping us to keep our neighborhood parks safe year-round.
We have developed a brochure that will be distributed while we visit neighborhood meetings to discuss the program and how it may be implemented. The program information will also be made available online and through our Contact Center.
Park Watch is the second phase of the Parks and Recreation Department and the Police Department’s efforts in vandalism deterrence. Phase one included the purchase and installation of the Flash Cam System to be used in parks experiencing high levels of criminal activity. Both efforts will be ongoing processes.
MEMO TO: Mayor & City Council
FROM: Mitchell Johnson, City Manager
SUBJECT: Items for Your Information
City of Greensboro Payment Options:
Citizens may currently select from four payment alternatives (without fees) to make payments to the City of Greensboro, including: (1) Pay by Mail, checks mailed to City P.O. Box, (2) Pay in Person, payments accepted in cash, by check or debit/credit card, (3) Bank “Bill Pay” system, and (4) Pay by Bank Account Draft.
Mail Payments - Currently the City processes about 580,000 payment transactions a year. In 2007, more than half (57%) or 330,000 were checks mailed to the City’s post office box. These payments are processed on a mail remittance machine located in the Melvin Municipal Office Building (MMOB). Most of these payments were from water and sewer customers who regularly paid in this manner each quarter.
Pay in Person - Citizens may also walk into MMOB and the Kitchen Operations Center (KOC) from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday and pay in cash or by check or debit/credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Amex, and Discover). Nearly one-third of annual payment transactions are made in person at MMOB or KOC. (12% paid in cash (68,000 transactions), 14% paid by check (78,000 transactions) and 3% paid by debit/credit card (16,000 transactions) in 2007.] The majority of walk-in collection activity is served by KOC, which has grown to accommodate 70% of our walk-in business.
Internet Banking – Citizens may also pay us over the Internet, directly from their bank website, using their bank’s “Bill Pay” feature. This practice has been in use since the late 1990’s with steadily increasing usage noted in recent years. In August 2005, the City made certain technology changes to allow us to both receive these payments electronically and automatically apply payment to the customer’s account without manual processing. In 2007, we received approximately 57,000 transactions (10%) electronically from “Bill Pay” customers. The typical time for the City to receive a payment in this manner is 2 to 3 days from the time a customer initiates payment in their bank’s system.
Bank Account Draft - Another payment option is for the City to automatically “draft” a customer’s bank account at the time of each utility billing, following an initial set up by the customer. Currently 5,669 quarterly and monthly water and sewer customers use this method to pay, which totals 30,000 annual transactions. This payment method provides customers with immediate account settlement and has the lowest processing cost for the City.
2008 Pending Payment Options – The City is in the process of developing two additional payment options, to include the acceptance of customer payments over the internet at the City’s website and also over the phone. These payments options will be subject to a convenience fee and will be available by the fall of 2008. A full staff report on this and other customer service initiatives will follow.
New Channel 13 Program Addresses Community Questions:
Public Affairs will begin airing a new program on Channel 13, beginning March 7, which will focus on Greensboro’s law enforcement efforts and programs. The program, titled “Greensboro Police Department: In Service,” will be unlike past City programming in that it will feature hosted interviews, with occasional video clips to illustrate speakers’ points. Guests will speak to topics and questions of interest to the public in the area of local law enforcement. The program will be hosted by Jeron Hollis of Public Affairs.
The first program focuses on response times and 911 calls. It features Chief Tim Bellamy and Guilford Metro 911 Director Wesley Reid. The second program will focus on gangs and efforts to prevent gang violence. At the end of each month’s program, viewers will be told the next month’s topics and invited to submit their questions on that topic to our Contact Center via phone or e-mail. We do not anticipate running out of topics anytime soon, but the public and City Council members are welcome to submit not only questions but topics for consideration for the program.
We think you will be pleased with “GPD: In Service,” which is made possible through hourly rental of studio time at a local television station.
Park Watch Program:
The Park Watch program is a partnership between the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department, the Greensboro Police Department, and city residents to reduce crime, vandalism, and illegal activities in our neighborhood parks. The program was modeled after Community Watch and Lake Watch programs. Park Watch provides citizens guidelines to follow when reporting suspicious activities, helping us to keep our neighborhood parks safe year-round.
We have developed a brochure that will be distributed while we visit neighborhood meetings to discuss the program and how it may be implemented. The program information will also be made available online and through our Contact Center.
Park Watch is the second phase of the Parks and Recreation Department and the Police Department’s efforts in vandalism deterrence. Phase one included the purchase and installation of the Flash Cam System to be used in parks experiencing high levels of criminal activity. Both efforts will be ongoing processes.
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