Pay water bills with the click of a button!
"Long-awaited feature finally available on multi-use parish website"
ST. JOHN - The St. John Parish website, www.sjbparish.com, took a step into the 21st century last month with the beginning of online payments for utility bills. By going to the parish website, residents can pay their monthly utility bill by debit or credit card. The system accepts all major credit cards except American Express.
Since taking office, Parish President Bill Hubbard has made it a priority to make the parish website a tool of government instead of an afterthought. The goal is for the website to be an extension of the parish government that is available to the resident 24/7 from the comfort of their home. A guide to the parish website is currently being drafted to keep the residents of St. John fully aware of what is available at their fingertips. The utility bills can still be paid by mail or by visiting the two service centers in Garyville and LaPlace, and also Greg's Supermarket in Reserve and Club Grocery on the Westbank. Also, a resident can set up an automatic bank draft by picking up a 'BANK DRAFT' form from the LaPlace Service Center.
"I hope many residents take advantage of this great new feature on the parish website. While they are visiting our site to pay their utility bill, I hope they check out the many other things available to them," said Council Chairman Ronnie Smith.
The utility bills, more commonly known as the 'water bill', collects fees for a variety of parish services including: water, sewerage, ambulance, the St. John Animal Shelter, mosquito spraying, and curbside garbage collection.
In addition to the new payment feature, the residents of St. John may have noticed a new water bill coming to them in their mailbox. Beginning last week, new tri-fold perforated utility bills were mailed out to the residents of St. John. The new bills are easier to read, include more detailed information, and are enclosed in an envelope for increased privacy for the resident.
Many new features have been added to the parish website, www.sjbparish.com, since 2008. Immediately preceding the unveiling of the utility payment feature, the parish installed an online public work order request feature that allows a citizen to request work to be done in an easy to use online form.
"So many people tell me that their water bill is the only bill they write a check for…well I am happy that we can finally say that St. John's bill can be paid with the click of a button instead of the stroke of a pen," said Parish President Bill Hubbard.
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