South Whitehall's contracts with Berkheimer Tax Administrators for collection of water, sewer, refuse and business privilege bills have been terminated effective Jan. 1, 2015.

The arrangement was inaugurated January 2014 upon the recommendation of auditors, Buckno, Lisicky, in an internal controls document dictating the separation of duties.

At the Oct. 15 commissioners' meeting, Finance Manager Lenore Horos reported with the implementation of a new software package having utility billing, it makes sense to bring the work back in-house.

Purchased at a cost of $43,000, the billing module of "Munis" software has more internal controls than the previous AS400 system used by the township.

Munis has a complete trail where every keystroke is audited and separation of duties is adhered to as prescribed in the internal controls document.

Horos said the new software makes it easier to maintain the database and eliminates confusion among residents as to whom they should call for help with invoices.

When the new software is fully implemented, residents' questions and concerns will once again be directed to township staff, not to Berkheimer.

Horos added the three Berkheimer employees assigned to South Whitehall billing were very helpful.

"They went above and beyond to make this work," Horos said.

When the billing was outsourced, township employees did not lose jobs but had their work responsibilities integrated among other staff.

Director of Administration Howard Kutzler said bringing the billing back to the township should result in dollar savings. South Whitehall paid Berkheimer for mailing the invoices and a fee for every payment the company processed.

The township ended up paying more than anticipated because many residents paid quarterly rather than annually.

Each bill or payment had a processing fee South Whitehall sent to Berkheimer.

The new utility billing module will take the information from handheld meter readers, download it into Munis, and process the bills sent to residents.

Horos reports discontinuing Berkheimer's contracts will provide efficiency for residents while also containing costs.

Commissioners granted unanimous approval to ending the Berkheimer contracts.