“eLockbox Program” Coming to Joliet Residents

Paying monthly utility bills to the City of Joliet just got easier thanks to a new program allowing residents to pay their bills through their own bank.  Joliet’s Finance Director Kevin Sing is pushing the new program expected to save the city an estimated $25,000 a year.

“The program is designed to allow our residents to pay their water, sewer and refuse bills electronically through their own banks online account platform.  This is the same type of service that other utilities such as Nicor Gas and Commonwealth Edison use,” explained Sing. “This protects a resident’s private information, eliminates late fees or lost checks, and provides residents the ability to schedule payment for a specific date.  Overall, a safe and secure way to pay bills without creating a new login,” Sing stated.

The City of Joliet bills over 50,000 accounts monthly and the new program will save the city at least 40 cents a transaction when residents use this service.  The concept was brought to the city’s Finance Committee chaired by Councilman Pat Mudron and comprised of council members Larry Hug and Sherri Reardon.  The committee unanimously recommended the approval of the measure which was approved by the full city council at the June 4th meeting.  The new program would take effect in early fall.

“We are pleased to offer this service to residents as a means to improve our customer service while reducing expenses for the city,” added City Manager Beth Beatty.