§ 2-300. Service fee.

(a)

Each municipal official employed by the city who, as a part of said employment, collects fees, fines, or other costs or charges payable to the city, is hereby authorized to accept payment by credit or debit card and is further authorized to collect a fee for processing of said debit or credit card, as determined by the city administrator in accordance with subsection (b) below.

(b)

Effective January 2, 2019, a service fee not to exceed three percent of the total transaction amount shall be charged on all transactions payable to the city when such transactions are paid with a debit or credit card. The application of the service fee is intended to offset the expense of debit and credit card processing fees paid by the city and shall be reasonably related thereto. The city administrator is authorized to establish an administrative policy for lowering the fee percentage upon a determination that a lower percentage is sufficient to offset the expense of the processing fees, and for the purpose of setting a minimum amount or other limit on when such service fee shall apply for transactions determined to be of a de minimis nature.

(c)

If payment by credit or debit card is not honored for any reason by the company or institution on which the funds are drawn, a service charge from the person who owes the fee, fine, or other costs or charges shall be imposed. The service charge is in addition to the original fee, fine, or other costs or charges, and shall be the same amount as the fee charged for the collection of a check drawn on an account with insufficient funds.

(Ord. No. 18-23, § 1, 10-2-2018)