TITLE
A Resolution of the Council of the City of Maricopa, Pinal County, Arizona, approving the limited acceptance of credit card payments on the City's website and in person at City Hall for certain City services and authorizing a credit card surcharge in an amount not to exceed 2.75% of the total transaction amount. Discussion and Action.
AGENDA ITEM DESCRIPTION
This resolution will allow the City to accept limited credit card payments for fees, permits, and services, while recouping the costs associated with accepting such payments. On November 5, 2014, the Mayor and City Council awarded a contract to Paladin Data Systems to purchase and implement their SMARTGov Electronic Permitting and Plan Review System. Along with the new electronic plan review and permit tracking system, the software is intended to also provide expanded payment options for Development Services customers.
In order to fully utilize this system it is necessary to allow customers to pay their fees electronically. The SMARTGov system allows Development Services to accept online payment; however the city does not accept credit cards at this time. In order to follow through with our desire to provide better customer service, we will need to start accepting credit card and debit card payments.
Staff has contracted with TransFirst LLC, an affiliation of Great Western Bank, to process credit card transactions. In an effort to recover the direct cost incurred by Development Services for TransFirst's merchant card processing services, the City will need to apply a surcharge to each credit card transaction at the time of purchase. Upon review of industry standards and the information provided from prospective vendors, a credit card merchant surcharge/check out fee of up to 2.75% for all credit card transactions will be applied with consent from the customer. This fee resolution has been advertised in compliance with the statutory requirement for a 60-day notification period.
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