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City clerk outlines online payments rollout, early-voting consolidation and records concerns
Summary
City Clerk Lisa Goodman told the Government Operations Committee that the city will add online payments through its Trio software vendor, plans to consolidate early voting to City Hall to save about $7,000, and raised questions about scanning historic voter registration records held at the library.
City Clerk Lisa Goodman told the Government Operations Committee that Bangor will contract with its financial software vendor, Trio, to allow online payments for taxes, utilities and motor vehicle fees and that the service will carry a convenience fee passed to users.
"We will be signing a contract with them this week, and then they'll get going on that," Goodman said, and staff expect a two- to three-month development period with a likely two-month timeline to a test phase.
Goodman also said nomination petitions will be available July 28 and returnable between Aug. 6 and Aug. 26, and she recommended consolidating early voting to City Hall rather than the Cross Center in off‑year elections. She told the committee that early voting at the Cross Center can be costly relative to turnout: "...we might get 30 people that come through the door, and we have a whole staff of people that we're paying for 30 people," she said, adding that consolidating to City Hall could save "about $7,000 in the budget for this upcoming year." She said staff would do outreach and suggested using QR codes to help residents access online payments.
Goodman briefed the committee on operational pressures in the clerk's office, including a backlog related to issuing new plates and ongoing Real ID demand. She also raised concerns about old voter registration records stored at the library that the library is scanning for public access through its archives partnership. Goodman said she consulted the secretary of state's office and the archivist, and that the state suggested records from 1940 and earlier could be scanned; she said she was uncomfortable scanning records by birthdate because some people born in 1930 could still be living and have active registrations.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about petition signature rules and the record-retention guidance. One councilor noted the change this election cycle allowing people to sign for more than three candidates, which Goodman confirmed. There was no formal committee vote on these operational items during the discussion.
Goodman said the vendor will pass processing fees to end users (about 2.5 percent via the point-of-sale provider) and that outreach would follow after testing. Details such as the vendor contract terms and launch dates beyond the development estimate were not specified in the committee discussion.
