The Williams City Council has given in to the public’s repeated request to pay city-imposed fees, charges, fines, licenses, and permits with credit or debit cards.
City officials have been talking about the move since September, but had concerns about the added expense to the city as well as the added demand on staff’s time.
Finance Director Rex Greenbaum said the cost of an electronic payment terminal itself is expensive, costing less than $500, but bank fees for the use of debit cards would have to be borne by the city, not the customer, which could add up over time.
“We will be able to recover our fee if they are regular credit card transactions, but if somebody wants to use their debit card, it’s a 1.5% fee that the city will have to absorb,” Greenbaum said, at the Nov. 16 City Council meeting.
Customers who opt to make a regular credit card transaction will be charged an approximate 3% service fee on their entire transaction, Greenbaum said.
Despite the cost, city officials agreed that use of electronic forms of payment has become a customary and economical business practice for most jurisdictions to provide a high level of customer service and convenience for its customers.
In order to authorize the acceptance of electronic forms of payment, the City Council had to adopt a resolution establishing policies and procedures.
There will be a few exceptions, including large deposits for building permits and fees.
“If you take even 1% out of a $60,000 deposit, then it is going to hurt more…” said City Administrator Frank Kennedy.
Payment of taxes, rents and Transient Occupancy Taxes is also excluded, unless authorized by the Finance Director or City Administrator.
Credit card payments will not be accepted via email, telephone (except for fully automated IVR), text, mail, or fax.
The City Council will receive ongoing reports from the Finance Department as to the cost of doing business to allow for electronic payments.
Kennedy said that while the 1.5% from the debit charge will be real money out of city coffers, the offset will be the ease and timeliness that citizens can pay bills and fees.
Electronic payments, however, will be capped at $500 to keep the cost to the city as low as possible. ■