Moving forward with billing

As has been the case in recent months, the events of the Saratoga Town Council seemed to influence the discussion for the Upper North Platte River Solid Waste Disposal District (UPRSWDD) the following night. Meeting on Oct. 2 in Saratoga Town Hall, Chairman Randy Raymer repeated his desire for a consolidated billing program operated by the solid waste district.

“Given the situation at the Town of Saratoga that I think we’re all very well aware of, I think, from our board’s perspective, it’s probably a good thing that we’re looking at some kind of consolidated or independent billing system so that we can keep actual track of what’s going on,” said Raymer.

Raymer informed the rest of the UPRSWDD board that he had acquired a hard copy of the Town of Saratoga’s user list and given it to Alysson Sneddon, who is working as project manager for the district. 

“Given the track record of the Town of Saratoga, I think it’s important for us to press on with some kind of independent billing system,” Raymer said.

Following his comments, Raymer yielded the floor to Sneddon who updated the board on a new program she had found for billing.

“I found a really nice little software package that’s not horribly expensive. I got a quote for about 2,500 customers, so the software would cost $1,250. Very easy to use. I have a demo on my computer. I really like it,” said Sneddon. “They would provide support for any type of data migration, they’ll give you some billing cards to get started, they provide training to get you all going and then $750 a year for the license.”

Raymer stated that he felt the cost for the license was reasonable, adding “if it were to cost us $30-40,000 a year to run an independent billing system, we would be pretty much even with what we’re doing right now.”

“Presumably, we would get accurate information as to whether we were collecting all the money due us,” said Raymer.

In the most recent audit for the Town of Saratoga, the landfill fund as of July 31, was reported to have a balance of $123,068.97.

“I don’t think we’re preparing to make a decision yet, but maybe run some trial things. Take the user list from Encampment and Riverside, where they don’t have 1,500 customers, plug it in and see how it works,” Raymer said. “Those are just the things I’m thinking of.”

UPRSWDD member Sue Jones expressed her support for the board to follow through with consolidating the billing among the three municipalities. Jones, who also owns Sunrise Sanitation, stated that she had noticed discrepancies between her customer list and that of the Town of Saratoga.

“It’s not even close,” said Jones.

Board member Leroy Stephenson asked if the district was considering hiring someone to take over the billing from the three municipalities. Raymer clarified that he believed the UPRSWDD should contract with someone.

“I think we should consider contracting with someone to do that. In all the things that we do in this district, we still do not have any employees that we pay social security, health insurance, sick pay or any of that,” said Raymer. “For argument’s sake, let’s say we hire Alysson or someone who works for Alysson. She has a business location that’s open semi-regular hours where people come to register in person or drop their payments off or whatever. It doesn’t make any difference if it’s in Riverside, Encampment or Saratoga.”

Stephenson stated that the “nuts and bolts” of the consolidated billing had been his only concern in pursuing a consolidated billing program.

“Town clerks, as a general rule, keep real good track of the people,” said Stephenson.

While discussion continued around where to place drop points and whether to include the respective town hall of all three municipalities as a drop off, Raymer stated that he wanted “fewer fingers touching it as possible.”

Raymer stated that he would like the solid waste district to have its “ducks in a row” by February so they could begin purchasing equipment and advertise for a contractor.

The next meeting of the UPRSWDD will be at 7 p.m. on Nov. 6 at Riverside Town Hall.