By Kim Siebert MacPhail
Starting this spring, Bedford taxpayers who choose to pay their town bills online will have more options, according to a presentation made by Town Finance Director Victor Garofalo to the Selectmen on Monday night. The current online bill paying program, Unipay—accessible through the Town website—allows for real estate and water/sewer payments to be transacted with either a check or a credit card. But, once Invoice Cloud is installed in the coming months, taxpayer options will expand to include real estate, personal property, and excise tax payments in addition to the water/sewer bill payments. Automatic payments and scheduled payments,partial payments, email notifications and reminders, secure storage of banking and credit card information, annual tax invoices and payment histories will also be available with the new service.
“Invoice Cloud provides a secure, web-based paperless electronic invoicing and payment solution,”Garofalo said. Many neighboring towns have moved to Invoice Cloud, and Garofalo presented the Selectmen with a list of 30, which included both large cities like Somerville and small towns like Lincoln.
Although paying online is now free using the Unipay program, that will change as of January 1 whether or not Bedford moves to Invoice Cloud. If Bedford were to decide to stay with Unipay, a charge of 25 cents per online check payment would be incurred; using the Invoice Cloud program, the transaction fee for each online check payment will be 40 cents.
Credit card payments will also incur a service charge fee—paid to the credit card company, not the Town—of 2.95% of the total bill for each bill paid by this method. This fee applies to all bills except water/sewer. The credit card fee for online water/sewer payments is a fixed cost of $5.95 per bill. Garofalo said that variable rate fees cannot be charged for utility bills, which water/sewer bills are categorized as. All major credit cards will be accepted.
Once the system goes live, taxpayers will be able to view 18 months of billing and payment history immediately. Real estate taxes, under Massachusetts General Law, are a matter of public record and will continue to be generally accessible, but the other bills can only be seen by keying in numbers specific to the taxpayer’s account. The appearance of the online bills will look exactly like the hard copy now mailed home, making it familiar and easy for residents to decipher.
Garofalo said that residents will continue to be able to receive their bills in the mail. Paying by mail or coming in to the Finance office in Town Hall will also remain options. Currently, the office is unable to process credit card payments—those must be made online. This will change once the new system is installed, although the surcharge for credit card use will still apply.
The new system will be promoted once it’s up and running through the Bedford Byline circular that the Town sends to each household.
“We’re not trying to push people to do this,” Garofalo said. “It will take three months to [transition to the new service]. We may be able to get it done by the time the fourth quarter bills go out in May.”
“I think it’s a great service for a certain percentage of the population,”said Selectmen chair Cathy Cordes.“It’s not going to be for everybody. People who like to bring their checks to the window can still bring their checks to the window.”
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Wouldn’t it be cheaper for the taxpayer to simply give the town a paper check and avoid the fees?
The third paragraph doesn’t make it clear whether the transaction fee for online check payments, which are now free, will be paid by the payer or absorbed by the town after Jan. 1. Would you please clarify that?
The online check fees will be paid by the taxpayer.