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Cornish to switch utility billing to gWorks; council weighs who bears online payment fees
Summary
Cornish staff demonstrated a move to gWorks for billing, found both credit-card and e-check payments carry fees, and the council asked staff to remove Xpress Bill Pay links and explore whether e-check fees can be absorbed by the town so residents do not see them on bills.
Cornish Town Hall — The Cornish Town Council authorized staff to complete a transition to the gWorks utility-billing system and discussed how to handle online payment fees.
At the July 1 meeting, Madi, a town staff member, asked councilmembers to complete a new W-4 for gWorks and showed the council the gWorks interface. Citizen Dale Buxton logged in during the meeting to share his screen so the council could see what users will see. The demonstration showed that both credit-card and e-check payments currently carry processing fees.
Councilmember Chris Buxton said he would investigate whether the e-check processing fee could be passed to the town so residents would not see that charge on their bills. The council also agreed to remove the town’s existing Xpress Bill Pay link from the website and replace it with a gWorks link; Madi said she will perform that update and will learn gWorks’ noticing feature for future citizen communications. Mayor Matt Leak said he will follow up with residents who had past-due accounts this month.
The transition could affect how residents receive and pay bills and whether a future opt-in online-payment discount will be offered; no formal policy change or discount was adopted at the meeting. Councilmembers asked staff to return with any cost details and implementation steps at a future meeting.
