BACKGROUND:
The City maintains a Schedule of User and Regulatory Fees identifying various services provided by the City and corresponding fees for service. A new fee credit card fee and an electronic check (e-check) fee are being recommended for adoption and inclusion in the City’s Master Fee Schedule.
DISCUSSION:
With the implementation of the Customer Self Service (CSS) portal, a new fee for credit card transactions or electronic check (e-check) will be identified as a processing fee.
•The proposed fee is 2.75% of the amount paid for each transaction. As a basis of comparison, please see the attached list of credit card fees for the various Coachella Valley agencies.
•The proposed e-check fee is $1.95/transaction.
•These fees are intended to offset processing fees charged by the City’s payment processor. Accordingly, these fees will apply to applicants that pay fees with a credit card or an e-check.
•These fees are intended to capture the City’s cost, not generate any new revenue for the City. They will function as a pass-through collection of amounts directly payable to the City’s processing vendor.
These proposed fees comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws. These proposed fees are not a tax as defined in Article 13C of the California Constitution and the proposed fees do not exceed the City’s reasonable costs associated with accepting credit card or electronic payments.
FISCAL IMPACT:
These transaction fees (revenue) will directly offset the processing cost (expense) charged by the payment processing vendor(s). There is no net financial impact for this item.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal C – Fiscal Stability and Sustainability
Objective - Cathedral City has economically prospered by facilitating the investment of private dollars in high quality development which benefits the community. We remain financially solvent by instituting prudent fiscal policies and transparent financial practices.