A greater need for municipalities to provide online tools

Providing online tools for citizens, utility customers and local businesses to interact with their local municipality has become more and more prevalent over the years. Generally speaking, larger municipalities have been found to provide these tools more often than small to medium-sized municipalities. Now, amid the COVID-19 crisis, it has become a prime necessity for all municipalities to provide online tools, no matter their size. 

The following tools are commonly provided by your financial, utility billing, tax and/or building permit software vendor and include the option to perform several processes online:

Utility billing

• Receive your utility bill electronically with the ability to opt out of receiving a paper bill
• Pay your utility bill online
• Request services such as a leaky meter repair, a final read because you are moving, etc.

Building permits

• Request or complete a permit application
• Pay for the permit online
• Print the permit and view the status of the permit throughout the approval process
• Request and schedule inspections

Business licenses

• View status of license
• Pay for license online
• Print the license

Property taxes

• View your property tax bill online
• Pay your property taxes online

Parcel lookup

• View property tax bills for any parcel
• View assessed value and other information related to the parcel
• View code violations, complaints and/or building permits issued for the parcel

These are just some examples, and more tools exist. Providing these tools increases the municipality’s service levels to its constituents. Oftentimes, the cost savings achieved by implementing online tools can offset the price to implement them. In addition, they help to achieve several other goals: