Secure Payment Portal for Local Government

Inspiration My partner and I decided to focus full-time on our side business helping small cities with payment processing. As more clients shifted to online payments and card readers became less accessible, we realized the need for a faster, smarter solution.

That’s when we found Bolt.new.

Bolt let us build secure, customizable payment platforms without code. Now we can turn client requirements into live demos in a day. The hackathon pushed us to move faster and launch real sites. What began as a setback became our breakthrough.

What it does Secure Payment Portal for Local Government is a multi-tenant, web-based platform that allows cities and municipalities to securely collect payments for parking tickets, water bills, permits, and more. City admins can configure services, set fee escalation rules, manage staff accounts, and select their preferred payment gateways. Residents can sign in, view obligations, and pay through a clean, secure interface—customized for their city.

How we built it We built the front end using Bolt.new with structured prompts no coding required. Supabase handles authentication, data storage, and role-based access. Netlify is used for hosting and deployment. The system supports modular billing types, customizable forms, and integrations with multiple secure payment gateways, including Stripe, PayPal, and First Data. Local governments aren't tied to a single provider—they can choose the best gateway based on processing or convenience fees. On the backend, we implemented multi-tenant architecture with strict data isolation and admin role management. Bolt AI frontend development React + Tailwind CSS (via Bolt) for clean and responsive UI AI prompt engineering (via Bolt’s OpenAI integration) Supabase (db) Netlify LLM (OpenAI API) Stripe the whole project was in Bolt (prompting), database: supabase, Netlify hosting

Challenges we ran into Ensuring true multi-tenancy with full city-level data isolation Building flexible fee escalation logic for fines Allowing payment gateway customization per tenant Delivering a simple, accessible experience for both admins and residents

Accomplishments that we're proud of Built a fully functional, production-ready platform in days

Did it without writing React code or deeply knowing how Supabase works

Enabled secure, city-specific payment workflows with real-time updates

Integrated support for multiple billing types and languages

Designed the platform with accessibility and mobile use in mind

What we learned Multi-tenant systems require careful planning around data security and access control

Government platforms must be both flexible and highly secure

Residents expect quick, simple, and trustworthy digital experiences

What's next for Secure Payment Portal for Local Government Launch pilot programs with partner cities

Add features like escalation notices, offline payment support, and integration with collections

Expand multilingual support and offer white-labeled versions

Integrate with city systems like GIS, licensing, and permitting databases

Built With

• bolt
• llm
• netlify
• react
• stipe
• supabase
• tailwind