Cleve Dowell/Clarendon Citizen
Manning gets online payment system
City of Manning utility customers can now make bill payments instantly. The City approved an on-line utility payment system at the June Council meeting.
City Administrator Rebecca Rhodes said that people were used to paying their bills without actually having to go into City Hall.
“We don’t have a drive-thru like we did with our old location, but this is an even easier way to make payments,” she said.
According to Eddie Gleaton, the City’s information technology representative, the credit card payment system has been tested from start, with a payment made on-line, to finish, with funds deposited into a bank account.
The City has also recently acquired a credit card machine, and payments will also be accepted at City Hall. A convenience fee of $1.00 plus 1.7 percent of the amount of the payment being made will be charged.
The City of Manning will not retain any portion of the convenience fee. In terms of security, no credit card information will be stored on any City of Manning computers.
Gleaton said he chose to use sc.gov <http://sc.gov> as the server for this system because it is used by many places in South Carolina, and there is no expense for the City of Manning. The system is also expandable to include many other services, and the fees are approved by the eGovernment Oversite Committee, appointed by the Governor.
Using the system is fairly simple. To access the city’s website go to: www.cityofmanning.org <http://www.cityofmanning.org/>. This will take you to the home page. From the option blocks on the left choose Utility Department (Online Payments). Once you click that, the City of Manning Online Services page will appear. From then on, you can either log in or create a new account. Next you will see a page with your current bills, broken down. You can also view your payment and billing history on the site.
The Town of Summerton plans on adopting a similar system in the near future.
“We’re going to have Mr. Gleaton come in to present this to the council on July 27,” said Mary Johnson, Summerton’s Clerk/Director of Town Affairs. “We’re hoping to get our website up and this system going.”
Summerton will also be getting a credit card machine soon at their Town Hall.
