AGENCY NAME Washinton County

Improving the Payment Experience

EFFICIENCY

How Beaver County Digitally Transformed Their Online Payments

ACCURACY

TIMELY

Challenge

For David Whitehead, Treasurer for Washington County, Utah, collecting and processing tax payments for the entire county was a manual and time-consuming process. He and his team knew that Washington County residents were ready for a more modern, convenient option for online payments. During an annual conference for other county treasurers in the state, David was introduced to CORE. Other counties implemented CORE with great success, convincing David to learn more. While there wasn’t a critical push from constituents, Washington County knew online payments would offer a more convenient, modern option for both county residents and the county employees.

“It’s so easy to balance and reconcile payments with CORE. And if there are any problems, I’m notified right away. That’s a huge plus for me—security and risk management.”

Solution

The first online payment for Washington County was collected in November 2016. As the county started to broadly advertise the option of online payments, via tax notices and coupons, awareness rapidly grew among residents. During the 2020 global pandemic, Washington County sent out a special notice, detailing new restrictions for in--person interactions. The special flyers outlined the alternative to coming to the office—pay online. As residents responded to the awareness campaign for paying online, payments processed online dramatically increased to nearly 16,000 for the entire county. Once the word was out, adoption increased dramatically. David also credits the increase in online payments to the shift in home ownership. With more millennials purchasing homes, online payments are expected. "Younger people are coming into the home ownership market and they’re more apt to pay online. You’re going to have more citizens who want to pay online.”

One great example of customization is the page built for the Little Britches Rodeo. Residents can visit the page online, register for the event, and then pay for however many slots they need. On the backend, LeeAnn accounts for every transaction that comes through the county website with CORE, relieving pressure and responsibilities from other department heads. Every morning, LeeAnn collects her CORE report, detailing which payments came in within the last 24 hours and which payments have been processed. Next, she sends over a copy to the county’s bank, reconciling what’s been processed with what’s available in the bank.

“We have reduced the number of customers coming into the office, which has freed staff to handle other responsibilities. Most people pay bills and fill out business applications online. It’s become an expectation for the City to have online services similar to what residents would experience with private businesses. Since we have transitioned these items online, it’s been convenient for the customers and us. It simplifies the entire process,” explained Jim.

Results

Washington County has seen a steady increase in adoption since implementing CORE. “In 2018, we started with 10,800, went up to almost 12,000 payments in 2019, and in 2020 we jumped to 15,700. There’s been a steady increase of online payments processed, which we are really happy about.”

(Hover to see how CORE helped Beaver County)

Real-time reports for financial analysis

The Treasurer’s office also utilizes reports in CORE, exporting daily to review and analyze payments processed. With integrations to other systems, the team has delivered a seamless, convenient experience for their citizens "Once we set up integrations between our other payment systems and CORE, the entire system has been working flawlessly."

One of the key features we really like is the monthly automatic bill pay system. Our citizens just set up that payment to happen automatically each year, either on a monthly basis or once a year. One of the benefits is the option to pay up until midnight on the due date, rather than when the office closes

Once we set up integrations between our other payment systems and CORE, the entire system has been working flawlessly. We knew online payments would make processing payments much easier. It would mean fewer people in the office, less mail, etc.

collecting and processing tax payments for the entire county was a manual and time-consuming process. He and his team knew that Washington County residents were ready for a more modern, convenient option for online payments.

Time consuming payment procesS

COVID-19 CHANGED PAYMENT OPTIONS

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

Time consuming payment process

COVID-19 CHANGED PAYMENT OPTIONS

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

What Residents Wanted

What Local Business Owners Wanted

With the COVID pandemic, the City accelerated their transition to online payments. As their in-person payment acceptance was no longer an option, they still needed to accept payments from residents. Jim shared, “When COVID-19 started, we put everything we could online. We tried to move everything we could into a process with CORE to offer our residents a safer, more convenient experience.”

real-time reports for financial analysis

improved overall operational efficiency for team

faster processing for residents and county team

AGENCY TYPE County

LOCATION Utah

DEPARTMENT Treasurer

SOLUTIONS Online Payments, Recurring/Automatic Bill Pay, Real-time Reporting, Integration

DAVID WHITEHEAD Treasurer, Washington County - Utah

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

We knew online payments would make processing payments much easier. It would mean fewer people in the office, less mail, etc. One of the key features we really like is the monthly automatic bill pay system. Our citizens just set up that payment to happen automatically each year, from month to month either on a monthly basis or once a year.

DAVID WHITEHEAD Treasurer, Washington County - Utah

Increase in online payments

45%

80%

Online payments processed through CORE

DAVID WHITEHEAD Treasurer, Washington County - Utah

The City received feedback from business owners and residents who wanted a more convenient, accessible, and modern method to make payments to the City. Many residents wanted to manage their transactions online, and they wanted the City to offer that option.

What Residents Wanted

What Local Business Owners Wanted

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

What Residents Wanted

Local business owners echoed the residents’ requests for a better way to manage and pay for licenses. For the City staff, routing paper applications and invoices through different departments required a lot of manual processes.

What Local Business Owners Wanted

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

What Residents Wanted

What Local Business Owners Wanted

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

Zero downtime with CORE’s IVR

The old system that the City of Davenport was using seemed to be down at least weekly and unreliable. We started using CORE's IVR, and downtime has been nonexistent since. Moving to CORE's IVR has sped up the payment process and eliminated downtime. It's been so reliable and great for our team," Jim said.

Faster checkout experience with multiple invoices

For many Davenport residents, especially landlords, the multi-invoice checkout experience was complicated and took too much time. With CORE, landlords can add multiple invoices into their cart, input their credit card information once and complete the transaction.

Convenient process for business owners to fill out and submit business licenses

“Getting a business license approved is much easier now that we’re doing it without paper. Plus, it’s easier for contractors. They don’t have time to come to the office complete the paperwork. The process saves both the team and the business owner’s time. It’s easier to do it online, saving everyone time,” explained Jim.

Easy billing set up for new residents and residents moving to online payments

Incredible time savings for the Davenport City staff

Customers paying online allows City staff more time for other responsibilities since in-person payments occupy a lot of time. Many residents and business owners are taking advantage of the online payment and application process.

Incredible time savings for the Davenport City staff

Fast and easy reporting and reconciliation information

Real-time reports and easy reconciliation documentation have made it fast and easy for the City staff to find what they need for any transaction. “COREs system provides excellent settlement reports, and they can be exported to Excel, simplifying the process. You can go to one location and search for what you need with a wide variety of criteria—day of the month, build number, etc. It’s easy to find the transactions and get them reconciled. The reports with CORE are incredible.”

"Before, landlords had to add an invoice and their credit card information for each invoice. Some landlords could have over one hundred licenses and enter this information each time. Now they can enter all the invoices in a cart and add their credit card information once. It’s a time saver and incredibly helpful for them"

JIM ODEAN Assistant Finance Director for the City of Davenport

My staff saves time with fewer face-to-face interactions. Residents pay online, and my staff can import the payments into our ERP system. It’s a huge time saver for us. We don’t touch every payment anymore.

JIM ODEAN Assistant Finance Director for the City of Davenport

Reduction in costs to print and mail invoices

“We’ve been trying to drive more people to eBilling because of the cost savings. Postage and metered mail costs recently increased again. All of those things add up when mailing 180,000 invoices annually,” said Jim. The team estimates they’ve saved between 15 - 20% in costs related to printing and mailing invoices with the implementation of CORE. “And actually, that number is increasing because more and more people want to move to an online billing experience.”

20%

18%

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16%

15%

14%

13%

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11%

10%

09%

08%

07%

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03%

02%

01%

20%

Washington County knew online payments would offer a more convenient, modern option for both county residents and the county employees. "You're going to have more citizens who want to pay online. There's been a steady increase of online payments processed, which we are really happy about."

Instant online payments

Streamlined

20% annual savings for print/mail costs

Beyond total payments processed online, the county is sees greater adoption for automatic monthly bill pay. Constituents set up their annual tax payment to withdraw each month, saving them time in mailing payments and the county’s time in processing and collecting those payments. “One of the key features we really like is the monthly automatic bill pay system. Our citizens just set up that payment to happen automatically each year, from month to month either on a monthly basis or once a year.”

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

For the residents of Washington County, Utah, automatic bill pay and online, instant payments for their annual tax bills seemed like a solution for the future until David Whitehead, Washington County’s Treasurer heard about CORE at an annual treasurer conference. After seeing how CORE offered convenient payment options for other residents and saved other county employees time and resources, Washington County decided to implement CORE for their constituents.

DAVID WHITEHEAD Treasurer, Washington County - Utah

CORE was perfect for our county. Although lower fees is an easy pitch, what made CORE standout was their ability to partner with us in creating processes designed to accept and process payment from each department. It was an easy choice.

LEEANN DALTON Treasurer, Beaver County - Utah

45%

Once the word was out, adoption increased dramatically. David also credits the increase in online payments to the shift in home ownership. With more millennials purchasing homes, online payments are expected. "Younger people are coming into the home ownership market and they’re more apt to pay online. You’re going to have more citizens who want to pay online.”

During the 2020 global pandemic, Washington County sent out a special notice, detailing new restrictions for in--person interactions. The special flyers outlined the alternative to coming to the office—pay online. As residents responded to the awareness campaign for paying online, payments processed online dramatically increased to nearly 16,000 for the entire county.

(Hover to see how CORE helped Washington County)

Real-time reports for financial analysis

Instant online payments

Washington County knew online payments would offer a more convenient, modern option for both county residents and the county employees.

Easy-to-use, automatic bill pay

Beyond payments processed online, the county is seeing greater adoption for automatic monthly bill pay. Constituents set up their annual tax payment to withdraw each month, saving them time in mailing payments and the county’s time in processing and collecting those payments

One interesting benefit residents of Washington County have found is the option to pay up until midnight on the date their tax bills are due. Instead of rushing to the office which might close at four or five in the afternoon, Washington County citizens can pay online up until midnight on the date their payment is due—and they still make the payment on time. The Washington County team is also utilizing reports in CORE, exporting daily to review and analyze payments processed. With integrations to other systems, the Washington County treasury Treasurer’s office has delivered a seamless, convenient experience for their citizens.

"Once we set up integrations between our other payment systems and CORE, the entire system has been working flawlessly."

"You're going to have more citizens who want to pay online. There's been a steady increase of online payments processed, which we are really happy about."

With CORE, the county saw immediate results. In just three years, they saw an increase of 45% in online payments, processed 80% of all online payments through CORE, and improved overall operational efficiency for the county team. With CORE, the team needed fewer people in office, gained access to real-time reports with accurate financial data, and faster processing for both constituents and the county team.

"One of the key features we really like is the monthly automatic bill pay system. Our citizens just set up that payment to happen automatically each year, either on a monthly basis or once a year. One of the benefits is the option to pay up until midnight on the due date, rather than when the office closes"

DAVID WHITEHEAD Treasurer, Washington County - Utah

Easy-to-use automatic bill pay

PCI-DSS Level-1 Compliant Platform

Anywhere, anytime, any device access

Actionable reporting and insights

corebt.com

866.567.CORE (2673)

950 Warren Avenue, Suite 400, East Providence, RI 02914

TRANSFORM YOUR PAYMENT EXPERIENCE

PCI-DSS Level-1 Compliant Platform

Anywhere, anytime, any device access

Actionable reporting and insights

corebt.com

866.567.CORE (2673)

950 Warren Avenue, Suite 400, East Providence, RI 02914

TRANSFORM YOUR PAYMENT EXPERIENCE

PCI-DSS Level-1 Compliant Platform

Anywhere, anytime, any device access

Actionable reporting and insights

corebt.com

866.567.CORE (2673)

950 Warren Avenue, Suite 400, East Providence, RI 02914

TRANSFORM YOUR PAYMENT EXPERIENCE