By Andrea Gregory

Long lines to pay off a bill could soon be a thing of the past if more residents take advantage of the city’s move to streamline the process.

Taking care of water and sewer bills can now be handled via the Internet. It is the latest in the city’s online payment options. Only a few people have taken advantage of it so far. But over the past few years, an increasing number of residents have turned to the Internet to pay taxes and bills.

“I think a lot of people will use it,” said Bill Fowler, treasurer and collector. “I expect this to be used by the same people paying property taxes online.”

Online use has been on the rise for paying taxes since the service was first introduced three years back. The amount of people taking advantage of the online payment option for real estate tax has more than doubled since it was first offered, he said.

In addition to new payment options, some residents are seeing just how far their money goes when it comes to the work of the water and sewer department.  About once a week a resident calls the city with a water or sewer problem. Technically, these issues are usually private matters and not the city‚Äôs problem. However, that has not stopped city workers from lending a hand to private citizens in emergency situations.

A year ago, Carol Antonelli, water and sewer superintendent, proposed the idea. She has been with the department for 30 years and was feeling sympathy for residents caught up in emergency situations. The way the city used to respond was handing over a list of qualified private workers after it was established the problem was not on city property.

“It is pretty devastating when you have sewage backing up into your basement,” she said. “I think a lot of people assume the city should be doing it. They were surprised when they heard we couldn’t. It just didn’t make sense to me that we wouldn’t go the extra step.”

Antonelli‚Äôs call fits into the mayor‚Äôs push to make city government more customer friendly.  Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone unveiled his agenda to focus on the customer service aspect of running a city at the start of the year. It is part of an ongoing initiative aimed at building a stronger relationship between the city and its people. Some of the changes include putting more bill paying options online, using mystery shoppers to check up on departments (see sidebar) and seeking out new ways to make city government run more efficiently from a resident‚Äôs perspective.

“The mayor is all about customer service and it fits into what his program and vision are for the city,” said Antonelli. “It is just a nice service that we extend to the public.”

The city does not provide the work a contractor would perform. And it is usually emergency-type situations when anything is done, she said. The city sends workers out to check the lines when there is a problem anyway to determine if the problem is on city or private property. The thought was it would not be too much harder just to help out a little.
Antonelli said it is up to the discretion of the department whether the problem is one city employees can assist in solving. And if the city does fix something, it is then up to the property owner to follow up with a private contractor if more work is needed.  Antonelli emphasized there is a big difference between a clogged toilet and backed up sewage pouring onto a basement floor. Also, it is a courtesy of the city, not an obligation, she said.

“This particular topic is a national topic,” said Stan Koty, Department of Public Works commissioner, mentioning he has heard of other municipalities venturing into the same kind of set up that Somerville has. “It shows people what they are paying for their services.”

Antonelli said the city occasionally has paid overtime to its workers, covering jobs in private homes. However, the workers needed to show up to the site to rule out the possibility of problem in its own pipes. Under contract, the city must pay its water and sewer employees a minimum of four hours overtime when they are called for extra work regardless of the time spent. So it is not occurring an additional cost to help out residents.

“How do you go in and give people a list and say ‘Hey, it’s your problem’?” said Koty. “I think it is a very positive step we are taking.”