New Village Software to Allow Online Payments

Buffalo Grove residents are one step closer to being able to pay their utility bills online. Village officials voted Monday to purchase new financial software that will allow for electronic billing and online payments while providing more efficient tools for village staff.

The village will pay up to $475,600 to New World Systems for the software, installation, data conversion and training. The price includes $30,000 for travel and a $25,000 contingency to cover additional training expenses.

Additional maintenance expenses, which will include software upgrades and phone support, will begin at $36,000 during the second year of use, and increase to $48,000 in the sixth year. Buffalo Grove pays $38,000 each year for maintenance, which does not include upgrades.

The new software replaces a system that has been in use since 1995 and is no longer fully supported by the company.

The new software, according to a village document, will “replace multiple applications, improve integration, increase access to information across all departments which will provide more timely information to management and the Village Board and provide a more streamlined solution for the village and its staff both in the short and long term.”

Specifically, it will help streamline financial processes, allow different departments to more easily share information, serve as a better budgeting and tracking tool and improve tracking of employees’ wages and benefits. 

New World Systems, which was selected among four vendors that responded to the village’s request for proposals earlier this year, also serves the villages of Mount Prospect, Palatine, Des Plaines, Geneva, Brookfield and Lombard.

While the new software is expected to take up to 18 months to implement fully, residents are expected to be able to make online utility payments by mid-2012.

Offering electronic billing will "basically get them online, instead of in line at Village Hall," Finance Director Scott Anderson said.

By late 2012 or early 2013, residents are expected to be able to access their accounts, view their use history and request account changes.