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Smithville staff warns of late utility bills; board asks for alternative credit-card quotes
Summary
City staff told the Smithville Board of Aldermen that utility bills were mailed late after a processor error and presented options after learning Tyler Technologies—s partnership with Elavon will end; the board directed staff to seek a quote from OpenEdge and continue evaluating Tyler—s in-module option.
Smithville city staff told the Board of Aldermen during a work session that a third-party bill processor marked utility statements as completed early in the month but did not mail them until several days later, prompting citizen calls and increased in-person requests for copies of bills. Staff said they are following up with the processor and noted a spike in customers signing up for email billing and ACH payment.
At the same meeting, staff presented a preliminary review of the city—s credit-card processing options after learning Tyler Technologies—s integration with payment processor Elavon would end on Jan. 1. Speaker 3 said that does not automatically stop credit-card processing for the city but creates uncertainty in the current relationship between Tyler and Elavon. Staff described OpenEdge (recently acquired by Global Payments) as an alternative and supplied a Tyler quote showing a 0.72% processing fee for utility transactions and a 3.75% fee for permits and business licenses.
"Right now, we also have a processing fee per transaction of 2.5%. That is collected by the city of Smithville and then turned around and sent to Elavon at the end of the month," Speaker 3 told the board. The staff presentation also listed a $1.25 online processing surcharge that covers website security and cybersecurity costs and estimated equipment costs for two card readers at roughly $1,000—$1,500. Staff said a Tyler implementation would take about two to three months and would require roughly an hour of conversion on a cutover day.
Board members asked whether Tyler could collect funds directly and manage chargebacks; staff said Tyler can offer an option to collect and handle chargebacks but cautioned that route would reduce the city's control over customer interactions. Elected members also discussed whether to continue passing the transaction fee to customers, with one board member noting ACH remains free for payers.
After questions and discussion, the board directed staff to obtain a quote from OpenEdge and to evaluate Tyler—s module in more depth before recommending a final approach. Staff said they would return with comparative pricing and implementation details.
Next steps: staff will solicit and report back on an OpenEdge quote and provide fuller cost, timing and customer-impact information for the board to consider at a future meeting.
