Idea is right on the money

Village government to reduce costs by paying its bills online

Paying bills is never fun, but North Perry Village has found a way to make the task a bit less expensive.

The idea was suggested by village Fiscal Officer Joanne Clapp.

“We can save at least $330 a year, just in postage, if we start doing bills online with the bank,” Clapp told legislators and administrators at a recent Village Council meeting.

Along with cutting the cost of snail-mailing bills, Clapp said the bank would not charge North Perry a fee to do online bill paying.

Clapp said there are different online bill-paying systems.

A program she is familiar with is the one used at Madison Fire District, where she also serves as fiscal officer.

“Madison Fire District has already been doing it for about a year,” she said.

Clapp said with the program used by the fire district she pays all the bills online and then prints out a report, which is reviewed by Chief Tod Baker.

“If there’s any bill he doesn’t think should be paid, he can void it out,” she said.

She envisioned Mayor Ed Klco fulfilling a similar function if North Perry began online bill paying.

“So again, I would put them through, and you would make sure if there’s (a payment) you don’t like, you reject it,” she said.

In addition, North Perry would save money by not going through so many checks each year, she said.

While Village Council gave the go-ahead to implement online bill paying, Clapp said she wouldn’t make the transition immediately.

“I won’t start until July because it’s easier to start at the beginning of the month,” she said.