While the City of Fayette’s new website has still not been launched, utility customers can now sign up for e-billing. The website was to go live in October and offer utility customers the service to pay bills online. That option is still forthcoming, and the city hopes to launch the site by the end of this month.

In the meantime, customers may drop by the utility office located in City Hall on South Main Street in Fayette and sign up for e-billing. The service is free, and bills will be sent via email to customers each month. The option could mean significant savings to the city in the form of printing and mailing costs, in addition to labor.

Once the new website does launch, customers will also be able to pay their bills online as well. There will be extra fees associated with this, however. Credit card transactions will cost 30 cents plus 3 percent while debit cards and payments directly from checking accounts will have fees of 0.8 percent with a $5 maximums associated with them.

Utility office manager Christine Fuhlage said Monday that already about 60 customers had signed up for the e-billing service. Out of approximately 1,200 customers, the city needs around 200 e-bill customers to post a positive cost benefit in offering the service.

Fuhlage walked council members through the process on the new website to register and make payments. 

The city is expected to launch the website once new computers have been installed in City Hall later this month.