City announces credit card convenience fee changes, which begin Monday, Nov. 2

As part of the 2025 budget process, the City Council reviewed a “menu of options” to reduce reliance on reserves to balance the budget and agreed that the city should begin collecting credit card convenience fees to offset charges paid to the merchant processor, credit card gateway and financial institutions. These costs have increased over the years, with the city paying $1.1 million in credit card fees in 2024 and $1.3 million in 2025. Passing along credit card fees received an affirmative response from a majority of City Council members at the time, and this was among the changes incorporated into the adopted fiscal 2025 budget and the subsequent fiscal 2026 budget, with city staff noting that implementation would take some time. The fee for these transaction services will be 2.23% or $1, whichever is greater. This is not a new tax or a revenue-generating measure for the city. Departmental rollout and implementation schedule Implementation begins in fall 2026 and continu