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Naveaber 21, 1990
HONORABLE CITY COV~CIL
Palo Alto, California
I.-IQQSI UTILITY JILL PROCB8S159
Members of the Council:
aport fA Iff, C
· ...
This is an informational report and no Council action is required~
Finance Department staff began processinq utili~y bill remittances
on Nov~ 1, 1990. All payments have been deposited in the bank
on the day received. staff is currently ~o~king on resolving some
ainor problems on data entry of payment information to the utility
customer billing program. staff intends to return to Council on
Deceaber 17, 1990, with a Budget Amendment Ordinance covering the
initial start-up expenses and tile operational funding for three
temporary employees for September 1990 through June 1991.
CUrrapt operatIons
Three temporary employees have been hired. They are currently
processing the utility payments at 425 Bryant street (former Board
of Realtors Building). The volume of payments for Ncvember 1
throuqh November 13 has been between 921 to 2,078 items per day.
All payments have been deposited to the bank on the day received.
A post office box in Palo Alto has been opened, and most of the
supplies required to process payment3 have been ordered and
received~ An interim contract vith B~inkts is in place to pick up
the .ail from the former site in Oakland.
One problem has been makinq sure the customer account is properly
credited for the utility payment. The utility billing posting
system was initially deSigned tor very low volume entry, since it
. ,
v.. only .. ant to be used tor Finance Accounting staff to enter
payaent.. that were rejected as non"'processable by the former
vendor. The ey:stem 'Will need to be adjusted as needed to accommo
date the increased volume resultinq from All payments, reqular ~nd
non-processable, being entered by hand. Finance statt is working
with the Information Resources Department statf to try to identify
the problems and solve them as quickly as possible.
staff will return in December yith more information and a request
tor the funding of this operation through June 30, 1991.
Respecttully submitted,
~~~~
GOJ\DOH B. FORO
Treasury Manaqer
Related St.ff Reports:
CKR:51S:0 and CKR:519:0
Gar/Ell:."
CMlI>S79: I) 2