The City of St. Louis delivers a digital solution that works for all
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The Collector’s Office is the major source of revenue in the City of St. Louis, collecting and managing several sources of revenue such as earnings tax, personal property tax, real estate tax, water, and refuse.
St. Louis Collector’s Office continues to innovate
In the past, the city’s payment system did not have integration capabilities, which meant the office staff had to manually enter each payment — a time-consuming process that caused other issues.
“One of the problems we were having with the [previous] payment provider we were using was that the payments were blind. So we’d get payments that would come in that would have a typo, and we’d have to track down ‘Well, who is this person? What are they trying to pay?’” said Rachel McClure, Assistant Collector of Revenue for the City of St. Louis.
“PayIt has pretty much eliminated the blind payments and offered us the ability to get rid of a lot of the manual things that we have been doing,” says Gregory F.X. Daly, Collector of Revenue for the City of St. Louis.
PayIt’s flexible technology allows the city of St. Louis to be responsive to the ever-changing landscape of today’s society. In 2020, Daly’s office saw the urgency of shifting traditional in-person services to online channels. The City worked with PayIt to launch an online earnings tax collection page in a matter of days so taxpayers could safely make their earnings tax payments without having to visit an office. In 2020 alone, over $1 million in online tax payments were collected.
Having one vendor for all payments has streamlined the city’s reconciliation process. With payitSt.Louis, the Collector of Revenue’s office can easily reconcile payments and ensure the same process no matter the service line.
Payment options that work for the city
A secure, easy solution for residents
Meeting residents where they are is a motivating factor for the Collector of Revenue’s office. “We want to make sure that people have an opportunity to pay in a way that’s secure, in a way that’s efficient, and in a way that’s convenient for them,” said McClure.
payitSt.Louis provides a full, end-to-end experience for every user. Residents can create a single, secure wallet that combines and stores all of their payment and transaction information in one place; they can also set up alerts, set up recurring payments, and keep track of upcoming due dates.
“Customers sing its praises; they love it.”
And, if they prefer, people can pay over the phone. The City’s interactive voice response (IVR) phone payment solution adheres to all of the same business rules and workflows as the website and app.
“We have a diverse city, and I think we need to offer convenient payment channels for everybody that lives here,” said Daly.
In the first seven months of launching IVR, over $950,000 in revenue was collected.
Partnership and collaboration are at the heart of innovation
Through this partnership, the Collector of Revenue’s office was able to launch payitSt.Louis in 2016 at no cost to the city, with the flexibility that has proven worthwhile — with rapid deployment of new services and features over the years.
“The biggest benefit about working with PayIt is that they are responsive and they’re going to listen to your feedback,” said McClure. “They’re going to make adjustments for you.”
“I couldn’t ask for any better communication than I currently have. We’ve been working with the same people since we came on board. That does not happen with other vendors”
St. Louis came with questions and solution requests, and PayIt met them with teamwork and ideas. Together, the Collector of Revenue and PayIt have created a meaningful solution for the residents of St. Louis, and they have established themselves as a leader in the GovTech space.
“PayIt listens. I think that’s the key,” said Daly.
