August 22, 2009

Electric utility to ease bill-paying

By KRISTI FUNDERBURK Staff Writer

VINELAND -- The customer service and collection office on the first floor of City Hall is getting its first makeover in 15 years to make the area friendlier for customers and safer for employees.

The renovations are just one plan in Vineland Municipal Electric Utility Director Joseph Isabella's initiative to improve customer service.

Customers also may soon see online bill paying and account access through the utility's Web site.

"I go by here and I see cars line up, and I go online and see utilities smaller than ours doing online bill paying," Isabella said. "We need to get this utility up to date."

But first the utility is turning its attention to the customer service area, where several hundred customers go each week to pay their bills or talk with customer service representatives.

Tom VanNoord, the city's supervisor of customer accounts, said the renovations will help avoid customer confusion when they walk in the office, and also section off employees who handle billing from the general public.

Now customers walk through the double glass doors into an open room with various stations for paying utility and tax bills or speaking with a customer service representative.

The addition of a few new walls, and a better-organized bill paying and customer service section will restrict customers to one area in the office, VanNoord said.

"The public has access to the billing area. This will secure the area more than it is right now," he said.

Utility officials haven't decided when the renovation will take place, but VanNoord said it will happen this year.

The work is expected to cost about $65,000, but Isabella said the utility could be eligible for federal grants between $5,000 and $10,000 because they plan to make some customer service desks handicap accessible.

The online payment option won't happen until around January, Isabella said, but customers will be able to go online to monitor their accounts as soon as next week.

"A lot of things we get here are questions that could be answered if customers had access to their own accounts," Isabella said.

Historically, city residents have had three options when paying an electric utility bill -- stop in the office, use the drive-thru window or mail it in.

Earlier this year, Isabella added a fourth payment method, allowing customers to sign up for a pre-authorized payment plan. The plan allows the utility to automatically deduct what a customer owes from a checking account each month.

Susan Stonestreet, 21, always goes into City Hall to pay her bills and likes the idea of an online payment option.

"I think it's going to be a lot more convenient," she said.

Her friend, Venessa Torres, also 21, agreed, adding: "Sometimes when I come in the lines are too long."

Additional Facts

IF YOU GO

·  Officials from the city's Department of Municipal Utilities will host a public forum on Thursday about progress at the city's water and electric utilities, future strategies and customer service improvements. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in City Council chambers, which is on the second floor of City Hall, 640 E. Wood St. The meeting also will be televised live on cable Channel 9.

·  For more information about the Vineland Municipal Electric Utility, visit www.vinelandcity.org/electric/vmeusite/index.htm.