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McCall staff brief council on Community Connect one-stop payment portal promising cost savings
Summary
City staff described a planned rollout of 'Community Connect' (Cassell) to consolidate online payments, eliminate city processing fees, and charge a $3,000 annual platform fee; water billing is the first module targeted for quick transition.
City staff briefed the council on a planned one-stop online payment portal called Community Connect, which would consolidate multiple back-end processors into a single system and reduce the city’s processing costs.
Randy, presenting the informational item, said the system would allow residents to create accounts, store payment methods, and transact for water, permits and other city services through a single portal. He told the council the city negotiated a $3,000 annual fee and expects the vendor to absorb processing fees, producing significant savings for the city compared with current segmented processors.
Randy said the water department will be first in the queue because the accounts already live in the city’s Cassell system; staff estimates the water-module transition could be completed in a month, though other modules may require additional contractual timing. He noted a few specialized systems (for example, certain golf tournaments processed through a PGA-required service) may remain linked but could still be accessed through the portal.
A council member asked whether the city’s liability would increase in the event of a data breach; Randy said that processing is handled through Cassell and that the city’s liability exposure would not increase under the proposed arrangement.
Councilors expressed interest in the project and asked staff to continue updates as the rollout proceeds.
