A public alternative to commercial lockbox services: Clark County's joint remittance processing center.

For local governments, saving money has become much more than a platitude the last few years. Still reeling from the 2001 recession, local governments are pinching pennies wherever they can in order to balance their budgets. Perhaps one area in which governments could help their budgets is that of payment processing. Many governments pay banks or other providers of lockbox services to receive, open, and process payments on their behalf. But is this always the most efficient strategy?

Clark County, Washington, has found an innovative way to save thousands of dollars on payment processing. Instead of paying a third-party provider to open envelopes and record tax ...