Proposal to offer electronic bank services tabled by council
Two issues took the majority of the time at Monday?s Rogers City Council meeting. One was the volatile curbside delivery debate (see separate story), while the other discussion would trim the amount of mail coming out of city hall in the future, if council members approve an agreement with Independent Bank of Rogers City for electronic fund transfer services.
This could give city employees and water customers the opportunity to pay their bill by direct deposit at a financial institution, and possibly on the Internet some day. Other utilities already offer similar services. It?s the wave of the future, but until further information is obtained, the future will have to wait as the agreement was tabled.
ACCORDING TO clerk/treasurer Theresa Heinzel, the agreement would reduce work for city staff and improve efficiency. During budget sessions earlier this year, Heinzel was asked to explore the steps that needed to be taken to implement automatic withdrawal for water bill payments. She has been working with computer programmers and Independent Bank and learned it can be done through the current system at city hall, but an agreement was needed. Council members were provided a 15-page document which is being reviewed by city attorney Mike Vogler. Heinzel said if the agreement were approved they would first start with direct deposit for city employees who want to participate because it would be easier to get all the ?wrinkles? out than going with all the water customers from the get-go.
?IT?S NOT something we can force our employees to do,? said Heinzel. ?It?s a volunteer type of thing, but I know of a couple of us who are sincerely looking at going with direct deposit. ?This would be the start, though, for going into automatic payment of water bills through withdrawals from people?s accounts. So we have to have this agreement in place and then in the future it may also work for taxes.? If or when it goes through, taxes could be automatically removed from checking accounts as well. If it is enacted, representatives of the bank would set up a meeting with city employees to go over the system.
?I noticed there was a long schedule of fees,? said council member Karl Heidemann. ?It was difficult for me, not having familiarity with the systems, to determine exactly what the total costs will be.?
AN ESTIMATE of total annual costs was not available, which was a concern of Heidemann?s. ?It?ll all depend on how many transactions we send over there,? said Heinzel. The costs are expected to offset each other, Heinzel explained.
?You?re not printing a bill for the customer and there is no direct waiting on that customer,? said Heinzel.
?Does that mean we have to lay somebody off since we won?t have work to do?? said Heidemann. ?The longterm ramifications are that the post office cuts service because they don?t have the business anymore, because their mail delivery is down. Everything we do affects everything else.?
While the agreement is with Independent Bank, if an employee agrees to direct deposit, the funds will be transferred to their financial institution of choice. ?This is the forefront of what is going to come,? said Heinzel, who has had several requests for e-services. ?This is from people who are downstate who have residences here.?
?MY PERSONAL experience with direct deposit has been poor,? said councilman Ralph Baker. Heidemann said he needed more information before making a decision on the agreement. He said he wouldn?t vote for it until he knows what the annual costs would be.
?I don?t see the value, and that is not to say that there isn?t a value, it?s just that it hasn?t been demonstrated to me yet,? said Heidemann. ?I, like Ralph, have had very poor response to electronic mailing,? he said. ?They take out too much money and it takes forever to get that fixed and you don?t know who to talk to.? Heinzel will survey the employees to see who would take advantage of direct deposit and provide
IN OTHER matters to come before council: ? Following an executive session, council approved revised language in the tax settlement with Michigan Limestone Operations. Mayor Beach Hall said not much has changed but the portion of the agreement for 2004-2005 was not acceptable by the tax tribunal. The changes needed to be made and resubmitted.
? A citizen asked if hours at the transfer station could be expanded. He suggested having the facility open on Mondays so people don?t have to wait until Wednesday to get rid of their grass clippings.
? A resolution was adopted supporting the new funding formula for the Mackinac Bridge, which is expected to lower fares. Legislation is pending approval by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who is unsure whether this initiative to protect the bridge should be enacted. Baker provided the only ?no? vote to the resolution.