Town pays by EFT, launches bill-viewing portal

EAGLE STAFF

The town is now using another way to pay for goods and services.

It used electronic funds transfer (EFT) to pay 13 suppliers a total of almost $45,500 on Oct. 16, according to financial documents approved by councillors on Oct. 20.

“Since the postal strike happened, and we didn’t know how long it was going to go on, MuniSoft offered this electronic file transfer payment plan,” said chief administrative officer Darcy Olson during the meeting.

Many suppliers already use it, so the town adopted it and will continue to do so, he said.

“It still has all the protocols of a cheque,” including two-stage authorization, he said. “We’re trying to adhere as close as possible to Municipal Act regulations,” and many other communities are now using it as well, Olson said.

The town has also launched an online customer portal. It allows residents signed up for electronic billing “to set up an online portal that allows them to view their account at any time and see how much they owe in taxes and/or water,” said chief administrative assistant Amanda Bors.

They can also review their billing and payment history, Olson noted.

“We’ve had a lot of good feedback and a lot of people signing up for it,” Bors said.

As of Sept. 30, the town had received 83 per cent of the property taxes assessed for 2025, up two per cent from the same time last year, she said.

Councillors later agreed to issue a list of 24 properties with more than half their 2024 taxes still unpaid as of Oct. 20. One owner owes more than $33,000.

Some owners on the list had paid part of the amount owing, Bors told resident Jan Coffey-Olson.

The town may place a lien on any of the properties 60 days after the list is published, Olson said. “Some of these were on the list last year” but paid what they owed then, he added.