Operated by a third-party vendor called e-level, from a link on the city's Web site, the on-line payment system is expected to be implemented in February.
The initiative is part of an overall effort to expand e-government programs in the city of Plano.
"It'll save a lot of time for citizens, whether a Plano resident or not," Johnston said.
To qualify, tickets must be paid within 10 days of the date received.
Some tickets, such as alcohol-related matters with minors, require a mandatory court appearance and cannot be paid on-line.
But, for the most part, "It should definitely reduce the long lines," Johnston said.
In this first phase of e-commerce developments, Johnston said, residents may apply for and renew their security alarm applications on-line and even file and search garage sale permits.
"That's the number-one permit in the city, believe it or not," Johnston said. "With this system, citizens can search by category and ZIP code the garage sales around Plano."
Officials at the Plano Municipal Court said the system was currently in the user-acceptance testing phase of production.
Johnston says he is optimistic the first phase of the site will be launched by the end of the month.
In a few more months, the Plano Police Department will use wireless citation devices to issue tickets, making ticket data entry more efficient, Johnston said.
"This is a huge step for us and we're very excited," he said, pointing out the hand-held citation devices will reduce the time officers spend writing traffic citations by hand.
The devices feature menus and pull-down screens for quick issuance of traffic citations and are expected sometime in April or May.
On-line payment for traffic citations was introduced in Dallas County earlier this month. It offers Dallas County citizens the ability for payment of property taxes, vehicle registration renewals, justice-of-the-peace court fines and fees, felony fees as well as on-line record searches, criminal background checks, probate searches, and assumed-name lookup.
The site, www.tickets.dallascounty.org, is hosted by Dallas-based Texas Local Interactive Inc.
Johnston says the future for e-commerce is exciting.
"We're developing a parallel universe of government on-line," Johnston said.
Contact K. Shelby Clark at 972-543-2290 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Quelle: Plano Star Curier
