More than 5,000 people have signed up to get their Council Tax bills by email following a successful campaign by local councils.
Every person who switches to e-billing saves the public purse 50 pence each year in post and printing costs. E-billing is also better for the environment as it saves paper and transport.
The campaign, which was a joint initiative between Purbeck District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, was run earlier this year.
A prize of £1,000 was offered to encourage residents to sign-up. The lucky winner was Chloe Grier from Bridport. She said: “Signing up is easy, it only took a minute to do and now I don’t need to have yet more paper bills to keep or recycle, it is all online. I’d recommend it to anyone.”
The prize money came from the savings made.
Councillor Anthony Alford, Leader of West Dorset District Council, said: “I would like to thank everybody who has switched from paper to e-billing. It is a much more efficient method and saves on paper and postage. The savings made will help to protect services for our residents and communities.
“The competition may be over, but I hope people will see the benefits of e-billing and make the switch. Signing-up takes seconds at dorsetforyou.com/council tax/e-billing. If you haven’t already switched please sign-up today.”
It cost £115,000 to post bills to everyone in Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset and Purbeck last year.
The councils considered offering people who sign-up for e-billing a discount, like the utility companies. However, that would mean that those unable to use online services would face higher bills. Customers who are not online are often on the tightest budgets.
The draw for the £1,000 prize was carried out by independent auditors, the South West Audit Partnership.
Signing up to get your Council Tax bill by email takes seconds at dorsetforyou.com/council tax/e-billing
