A paperless payroll system implemented under the leadership of Houston City Controller Annise Parker is saving the City of Houston up to a million dollars annually in personnel, printing and paper costs. “The new system saves taxpayer dollars, saves time and is good for the environment,” said Controller Parker.

Prior to the paperless system all of the city's approximately 21,000 employees received printed records of their payroll information every two weeks. It took two employees an entire day each payroll cycle to print the documents and another four hours to fold the documents. Then those documents were picked up by departmental representatives and distributed manually. “City employees are now able to access the payroll information electronically from any computer by linking to a secure web site available only to the municipal workforce. We are using about 600,000 fewer sheets of paper annually,” said Controller Parker.

A requirement of the paperless payroll is that employees must utilize direct deposit. Prior to implementation of the paperless system about 3,800 city employees were not signed up for direct deposit. The controllers' office worked closely with the human resources representatives in the various city departments and JPMorgan Chase Bank to inform employees of the benefits of direct deposit. Due to this effort, the number of employees refusing the direct deposit option has been reduced to 422. Instead of a printed paper check, these workers now receive a debit card valued in the amount of their net pay each payday. The debit cards are tied to a bank account in each employee's name. They may be used to withdraw cash from any JPMorgan Chase Bank or Allpoints ATM or to pay for purchases at any retail outlet that accepts Visa cards. The cards may also be used to pay bills or to pay for purchases made online, by phone or by mail order. Employees are allowed one free ATM withdrawal each pay cycle. Once the free withdrawal has been used, there will be a $1.50 charge for each additional withdrawal within a pay period. In addition, standard ATM charges apply if an employee does not utilize a JPMorgan Chase Bank or Allpoints ATM.

“In addition to saving taxpayer dollars and being environmentally friendly, the new paperless payroll method is responsible for introducing the banking system to employees who for personal or other reasons did not previously have bank accounts,” said Parker. “These employees now have safe and secure places to store their money, and easy access to those funds in the event of an emergency or disaster. This is important when you consider that seven out of ten Hurricane Katrina evacuees did not have bank accounts. As a result, they lost their money in the flooding when the levies broke in New Orleans .”

In her last term as controller, Parker is working on other projects aimed at reducing the number of unbanked individuals in Houston . More details about these projects will be announced in the coming months.

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