Paying taxes will soon be easier for Culpeper residents, according to The Free Lance-Star.

For a fee, residents will be able to pay taxes online. Officials hope that this function will go live for residents by the end of the year.

"The town of Culpeper will soon begin using a new software system designed to streamline a number of financial functions and let residents pay their taxes online.

The software, which is expected to go into daily use by December, will bring utility billing, budgeting, purchasing, human resources functions, payrolls and other financial operations under the same system.

'It will allow us to work more efficiently,' said town Treasurer Ron Mabry.

Officials hope the new system will be up and running for the real-estate and personal-property tax season to allow online payments for the first time.

A link on the town's Web site will direct taxpayers to the function.

'We want to make it easier for the citizens when they click that link,' said Mabry. 'You can do it in the middle of the night.'

Opting not to stand in long lines, however, will not be free, and an as-yet-undisclosed fee will be attached to online payments.

The new system will continue to allow for "direct debit" utility-bill payments, a feature town officials say few people have used since it was established."

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