Editor’s note: Ask Us is a weekly feature published online Mondays and in print on Tuesdays. We’ll seek to answer your questions about items or trends in Rowan County. Have a question? Email it to askus@salisburypost.com.

SALISBURY — Local residents’ utility bills are processed by a machine in Atlanta when paid manually to the city of Salisbury.

A reader asked why bills are mailed to Atlanta instead of handled in Salisbury.

City of Salisbury Communications Director Linda McElroy said the machine can process a high volume of checks for the city’s bank in a fraction of the time they could be processed by hand. The physical bills themselves are printed in Mount Airy by OSG Billing Services. The Mount Airy operation, formerly known as SouthData, was acquired by OSG in 2014 and recently rebranded to match its parent company.

McElroy said the city is encourages people to pay their bills online. Payment is through the city portal and customers can opt in to automatic payments if they choose.

Bills can be paid at pay.salisburync.gov

For people looking for an in-person alternative, bills can paid at 141 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. or left in a drop box in an envelope with a bill stub. There are no receipts given for payments placed in the drop box. Bills can also be paid via phone by calling 704-638-5300.