The City of Grand Rapids is launching a new web app that will allow residents a digital way of conducting business transactions with the city. In a partnership with cloud-based mobile government and payment platform Technology Company, ‘Pay It,’ the city is launching a new app called “GR Pay It’ that links water, refuse and property taxes into a single account, giving residents the ability to pay and manage their bills through the application as well as settle outstanding parking tickets.
However, Grand Rapids Treasurer John Globensky says one of the most important features of the app is its ability to send residents notifications from the City when bills are due, in the hopes of eliminating unnecessary late fees.
“A quarterly water bill is $250 for typically a family of four. At that point, with so many people still living paycheck to paycheck, if they miss one of those payments, they are going to get assessed a 10 percent interest fee,” Globensky said. “Well, if I am giving you notification of when its due, and I remind you on the due date itself, maybe I am helping you get to the point where you are making that payment on time,” he said.
Globensky says with the exception of property and income taxes which the city is not allowed to wave, Grand Rapids is covering all credit card transactions associated with the new app. While GR Pay It is available online, the app will be able available to download on iTunes and Google Play in the next few weeks.
