Title
Evening hours at the Village Hall
History
The Finance Department has consistently prioritized providing excellent customer service to Village residents. Over the years, adjustments were made to cashier window hours to better accommodate residents who worked during normal business hours and needed additional flexibility to pay water bills and conduct other Village business in person.
Village records confirm formal cashier window hour adjustments in both 1992 and 2004. In 1992, evening and limited Saturday hours were introduced to improve accessibility for working residents. In 2004, the Village further modified operations by extending cashier window hours during Board meeting evenings while reducing regularly scheduled Saturday hours due to low utilization. For many years since, the cashier window has remained open during Board meeting evenings until 7:00 p.m.
Separately, temporary operational adjustments to customer service and public access hours were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the implementation of extended evening cashiering hours, customer service operations and payment methods have significantly evolved. With our new implementation of Tyler Utility Billing and Citizen Access, residents now have the ability to make payments online 24 hours per day, seven days per week for utility bills, permits, and other common transactions. As a result, the need for in-person evening payment services has steadily declined.
A review of cashier window activity indicates extremely limited utilization during extended evening hours. Over the past year, fewer than 29 transactions occurred between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Board meeting evenings, with several of those transactions occurring immediately prior to the 5:00 p.m. closing time as customers were already in line before the doors locked.
Additional operational considerations include safety concerns associated with having only one staff member present during evenings when Board meetings a...
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