The city of Allentown is implementing a new, digital way for residents to pay for licenses and fees.
The city announced Tuesday that it is starting its transition to the online licensing and permitting system EnerGov.
According to a release, the platform will allow constituents to apply, submit, and pay for licenses, permits, and land development reviews. It will also allow Allentown to expand its ability to accept all major debit and credit cards for any city-related fees, in-person and online.
The release said this will be the first time that Allentown will be able to accept cards citywide for these fees. A convenience fee of 2.90%, plus a 25-cent transaction fee, will be added for every payment made on a debit or credit card.
The EnerGov portal system also offers real-time application tracking to advise applicants of the status of their licenses, permits, and land development reviews.
The system’s launch date is anticipated for May 1, with a phased public roll-out over the rest of the month.
As a result of the transition, the city said there will be a service disruption at its customer counters, including a three-day closure of the third and fourth floors of Allentown City Hall and the third floor of Bridgeworks.
The closure will be from April 26-28, and the city said that people with time-sensitive documents should drop them off at the city hall front desk.
Impacted city bureaus include Building Safety and Standards, Environmental Health, Planning and Zoning, Engineering, Sweep, Fire, and Revenue and Audit (limited to licenses).
Cash will not be accepted at these bureaus during the transition timeframe, only payments made by check or money order. These payments will be processed after the EnerGov launch on May 1.
(Original air-date: 4/25/23)
