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Item No: 7.E. <br />Meeting Date: July 8, 2013 <br />Type of Business: Council Business <br />Administrator Review: _____ <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br />To: Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From: Mark Beer, Finance Director <br />Item Title/Subject: Resolution 8116 Authorizing the Acceptance of Credit/Debit <br />Cards for Payment of City Charges <br /> <br />Background: <br />In the past the City Council has been reluctant to accept credit/debit cards for payment <br />due to the fee that would be deducted from the purchase price. Entities were not allowed <br />under their merchant agreements to charge back those fees to customers using <br />credit/debit cards. The City Council did not want to pass those costs on to others not <br />using credit/debit cards. Recently there was a legal settlement with several credit card <br />providers that would allow entities accepting credit/debit cards to charge back fees for <br />accepting credit/debit cards for payment. <br /> <br />Discussion: <br />Staff has demonstrated the MuniciPay payment solution and found that it would be an <br />acceptable solution for accepting credit/debit card payments. MuniciPay is associated <br />with the City’s website vendor GovOffice. The City would not incur any costs associated <br />with accepting credit/debit cards. Any fees would be passed on to the customer using a <br />credit/debit card and the City would be paid the full amount of the charge being applied. <br />MuniciPay will provide card readers and develop an e-commerce site for on-line <br />payments when the City is ready to take that step. There is no contract time period so <br />the City can cancel at any time. The City will be able to accept over-the-counter, phone, <br />and on-line payments when fully implemented and there is no cost to the City. The cost <br />to the Customer would be $3 or 2.45% of the charge, whichever is greater. <br /> <br />Recommendation: <br />Staff recommends that the City Council Authorize the acceptance of credit/debit cards as <br />a form of payment for City charges and authorizes the use of MuniciPay for that process. <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />________________________ <br />Mark Beer, Finance Director <br /> <br /> <br />