The City of Knox is giving residents more options for paying their bills.
Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston says starting Monday, the city will be using an online billing system letting residents get their bills by e-mail and pay bills online. He says it should make things easier for everyone, “Whether you’re registered or not, anyone with an e-mail address on file would receive an e- mail of their bill the first of the month when your bill comes out. You’d also receive an e-mail on the 10th saying that your bill’s coming due on the 15th. And then on the 22nd, you would get a notice saying that you’re ready to be shut off.”
If residents decide to register, they will also be able to go paperless or schedule automatic payments. Houston says residents might see some cost savings with the new system, “You’ll be able to pay with a credit card or a check, and one of the advantages to this $2.95 flat fee is before we were charging three percent – of course that goes to the credit card company not to us – but with this it’s $2.95 all the way up to $250.”
Residents still have the option to use their bank’s online payment option, which is usually free. However people choose to pay their bill, Houston says the new system will help, “This is a convenience, really, for people. There’s a lot of people that are online all the time, and it’s not going to cost you anything to be able to check your bill.”
So far, the system will be implemented on a voluntary basis, meaning residents will continue to get their bills sent to them in the mail unless they choose a paperless option, which would save the city the cost of mailing the bills.
Houston told the City Council about the system at their meeting Tuesday.
