Other towns watching Eden Prairie's online billing efficacy

About 1,500 Eden Prairie households now pay their water and sewer bills online in a new program that's being watched by other cities in the state and soon will be offered in Maple Grove, Lakeville and Robbinsdale.

To cut the cost of paper billing, Eden Prairie invites residents to receive their bills by e-mail and pay them online using a credit card.

"Sending out paper bills and getting checks back, all of that is the old way of doing business," said Eden Prairie City Manager Scott Neal. Between the time the city prints a bill, mails it and receives payment, "We have to touch that piece of paper about eight times before we have any money from you," Neal said.

The new billing system is catching on slowly. Since first offering it to its 18,000 customers in February, Eden Prairie has had about 10 percent of its households sign up. The city hopes for 80 percent, Neal said.

"We have some marketing and promotion to do."

Eden Prairie is using the new billing software by virtue of its membership in Logis, which supplies its 35 member cities and counties with leading-edge public-sector technology. Logis is a technical support consortium aimed at cutting government costs. The finance directors of seven metro area cities set up Logis in 1971 under the state's joint powers law and it started operations in 1972.

"Around the country, we have seen cities put a link on their Web page which allows residents to log in with an account number and pay their bills through the Internet," said Mike Garris, Logis executive director. "In these economic times, anything that helps our city staffs be more effective, be able to reduce costs and provide better service, is worth looking at."

Now that online billing technology is available and affordable, the question is how many people will use it, Garris said. Until cities have more experience with its use and popularity, it won't be clear how much they can save, he said.

Eden Prairie Public Works Director Gene Dietz predicts that "at some point, when the next generation is paying utility bills, it's going to make a huge difference."

Part of the appeal of the program is that it allows account holders to see their billing and water-use history. They can even use the program to compare their own water use with average use on their street or throughout their city.

That might encourage people to use less water if they see that they are using more than their neighbors, Dietz said.

Lorene McWaters, Neal's assistant and an Eden Prairie resident, is one of the converts to the online billing.

Previously, she had auto-pay billing that allowed the city to deduct payment straight from her checking account. She says she prefers the extra measure of control of paying by credit card.

Using her new account to look at her water usage has made her more conscious of her water consumption, McWaters said. "I found out my water use was higher than my neighbors."'

Next year, Eden Prairie will move to monthly utility billing both online and with paper bills to make residents more immediately aware of their water use, Neal said.

"Now, what you used in July you are paying for in October or November." With monthly billing, he said, "What you used in July you are paying for in August." That could help curb consumption, especially during the heavy usage months during the summer, he said.