As of Tuesday, the town began participating in a state program called Rapid Renewal. The online service was introduced by Secretary of State Dan A. Gwadosky.
Instead of standing in line to renew their automobile registrations, drivers using the new service can register their cars by pointing and clicking from their own computers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Web site works much the same as any secure online shopping service.
According to Town Clerk Mary-Anne Szeniawski, the process is easy.
"Even those not as computer literate as others will find this simple to use," she said. "It can be done on either the town Web site, www.yorkmaine.org, or the Web site for the Maine secretary of state, www.sosonline.org.
"The user just follows instructions step by step. All they need to have in front of them is their old registration, their insurance card, checkbook and the mileage on the vehicle. The site will lead them through the process of paying their excise tax and completing the registration."
Those who use the service also can choose to receive an e-mail reminder for next year’s renewal.
Since the start of the new service on Tuesday, about 20 people have tried it, Szeniawski said.
"Our finance director (Elizabeth McCann) was the first," said Szeniawski. "She got her registration in five days; all went smoothly.
The service can be used only for re-registering cars. Szeniawski said at least 50 percent of the town’s transactions are re-registrations.
Szeniawski and her office staff did low-key testing of the new system for a month. She said it works perfectly.
Secretary of State Gwadosky said, "Rapid Renewal is a groundbreaking Internet service that moves Maine closer to the concept of e-government. For the first time, York citizens will be able to conduct business online with municipal and state government in one seamless transaction. This is one of the first municipal and state government partnerships in the country to provide integrated e-commerce services online."
Both Gwadosky and Szeniawski said they hope this is just a first step and that other government functions soon may be performed online.
"It is a wonderful idea," said Szeniawski. "I’d like to see all those services that are repetitive done this way. Things such as hunting and fishing licenses, beach stickers or dog licenses could be done this way.
"We are open one night a week to try and help people who work out of town, but it is often difficult to find time to get your own personal paperwork done. For those of us who live and work in town, it’s fine to do at Town Hall, but this makes it easier for everyone."
Szeniawski said the staff at the secretary of state’s office will notify residents by mail that the service is available.
Once a person uses the service, the registration and electronically transferred excise tax will be sent back to the town clerk. The customer will be provided with a receipt and a confirmation number.
Since the system uses electronic checks or credit cards, there is no fee to the town for using the service.
"I’ll do the bookkeeping and uploading," Szeniawski said. "It’s a bit more work for me, but a real convenience for residents not to have to come and stand in line. Typically, all of this goes through our cash receiving system, but I’ll get notification from the state to inform me what they collected, and our bank is posting the transactions electronically."
Rapid Renewal, sponsored by the secretary of state, was developed cooperatively by his department, 10 pilot municipalities and InforME, the information resource of Maine. Participation is voluntary.
In addition to York, 48 other Maine municipalities currently offer the service.
Quelle: Portsmouth Herald
