Politics & Government

Montgomery to Start Charging for Credit Card Payments

Rising transaction costs will see the village adopt a $2 fee for credit card payments, both online and at the Village Hall, once the new website goes live on Dec. 9.

When the ’s new website goes live in December, you’ll be able to pay your water bill online. But it’ll cost you—on Monday, the Village Board agreed to charge $2 per transaction, to recoup the cost of ever-increasing fees the village must pay.

Montgomery has been accepting credit card payments—for water bills, but also for permit fees and other charges—since August of 2010, according to Finance Director Jeff Zoephel. In that time, the village has processed 3,287 credit card payments, totaling $374,102.

Zoephel said the credit processing company charges the village two percent of each transaction, plus a flat 25-cent fee each time a card is swiped. Over the past year, the village has paid $9,820 in fees for those credit transactions, Zoephel said. Village leaders initially decided not to pass that fee on to the residents, he said, because most other area villages did not.

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But with the new website, Zoephel said, that fee will rise, depending on how residents pay online. There will be a choice—credit card, or e-check. Both will come with a $2 transaction fee the village must pay, and the credit card transactions will also see the village charged 3.95 percent, he said.

Credit card payments are on the rise—July saw 454 such transactions, the most the village has recorded in one month. And with the new website, that number’s only going to go up, Zoephel said.

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That’s why he suggested that the village charge residents that $2 fee for credit card payments, regardless of whether they make them online or at Village Hall. The village would still have to pay the 3.95 percent fee, but wouldn’t pass that on to the residents, he said.

There will still be no charge to residents for paying with cash or check, or for setting up a direct debit.

After asking Zoephel to see if that 3.95 percent fee could be negotiated, the board unanimously agreed with his plan.

“The program isn’t free to us, there’s an associated cost,” said Trustee Bill Keck. “We’re looking for ways to cut costs. I have no problem with a pass-thru.”

Zoephel said he does not expect the $2 fee to keep people from using the new e-pay service on the website.

“It’s a small enough fee that it shouldn’t be (a deterrent),” he said, adding that the village would not begin charging that fee until the new site debuts. 

The new village website is currently being designed by Kansas-based company CivicPlus, for $14,357. It is scheduled to go live on Dec. 9.


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