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1 City Council Meeting: October 28, 2025 Santa Monica, California RESOLUTION NUMBER _________ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA ESTABLISHING CREDIT CARD AND DEBIT CARD CONVENIENCE
FEES FOR ON-STREET PARKING, MONTHLY KEYCARDS, VALIDATIONS, AND
EVENT ACTIVATIONS
WHEREAS, the City has previously authorized the use of credit cards and debit cards to pay for City services, administrative citations, utilities, parking citations, recreation activities, and other transactions (collectively, “Credit Card Payments”); and WHEREAS, there are certain transactional costs associated with Credit Card Payments; and
WHEREAS, the transactional costs associated with Credit Card Payments vary depending on the vendor, payment amount, payment purpose, and other factors; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code section 6159(h), the City may impose charges for the transactional costs associated with Credit Card Payments (“Convenience Fees”), provided that the Convenience Fees do not exceed the costs incurred by the City in providing for Credit Card Payments; and
WHEREAS, on October 27, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 11301 (CCS) (“Resolution 11301”), which established certain Convenience Fees for Credit Card Payments; and
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2 WHEREAS, Resolution 11301 provides for a per transaction fee for Credit Card Payments for administrative citations, utility payments, and parking citations; and WHEREAS, Resolution 11301 provides for a 2.95% convenience fee based on the amount of the transaction for Credit Card Payments for recreation activities, mobility/transportation demand, and all other non-parking-related payments; and WHEREAS, on October 26, 2021, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 11381 (CCS), which established a Convenience Fee so that the City could recover the transactional costs associated with utility payments; and WHEREAS, on June 24, 2025, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 11679 (CCS) (“Resolution 11679”), which established Convenience Fees so that the City could recover the transactional costs associated with parking citations and certain preferential parking permits, including residential parking permits, visitor parking permits, temporary parking permits, recreational vehicle (RV) overnight permits and replacement permits; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to adopt new Convenience Fees to recover the transactional costs associated with on-street parking, monthly keycards, validations, and certain event activations; and
WHEREAS, the transactional costs associated with processing credit card payments are dynamic and vary depending on transaction type, card type, card issuer; and additional factors; and
WHEREAS, on October 28, 2025, the City Council heard and considered all oral and written presentations and comments made regarding the proposed Convenience Fees.
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3 NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES RESOLVE AND PROCLAIM AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. On October 28, 2025, the City Council considered the proposed Convenience Fees for on-street parking, monthly keycards, validations, and event activations and received public comments relating to these proposed convenience fees.
SECTION 2. Pursuant to Government Code section 6159(h)(1), the City Council approves Convenience Fees for Credit Card Payments as set forth below:
Description Fee Unit
Administrative Citations $3.50 per transaction
Parking Citations, Preferential Parking
Permits, and Beach Permits (paid online
or payments by phone)
$2.50 per transaction
Parking Citations, Preferential Parking
Permits, and Beach Permits (paid at the
counter)
2.95% percentage of the transaction
Utilities 2.95% percentage of the transaction
Recreation Activities 2.95% percentage of the transaction Mobility/Transportation Demand 2.95% percentage of the transaction On-Street Parking (Parking meters
citywide) $0.25 per transaction
Off-Street Parking (Surface Lots and
Parking Structures) 3% percentage of the transaction
Monthly Keycards 2.95% percentage of the transaction
Validations 2.95% percentage of the transaction
Event Activations 2.95% percentage of the transaction
All Other Payments 2.95% percentage of the transaction
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4 In the event the City changes vendors, or renegotiates its pricing structure with an existing vendor, for one or more categories of payments, the City may collect the identified Convenience Fee (or a lower Convenience Fee) provided that the applicable Convenience Fees do not exceed the actual transactional costs incurred by the City.
SECTION 3. The City Council finds and determines that the Convenience Fees outlined above do not exceed the actual transactional costs incurred by the City in providing for Credit Card Payments.
SECTION 4. The City Manager and Director of Finance are hereby authorized to take all actions necessary to implement and collect the Convenience Fees.
SECTION 5. Resolution 11679 is repealed in its entirety.
SECTION 6. If any section, subsection, clause or phrase in this resolution is for any reason held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this resolution shall not be affected thereby. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this resolution and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, clause, or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrase thereof be held invalid.
SECTION 7.The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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HEIDI von TONGELN
Interim City Attorney