Many citizens recently felt a new sting paying their utility bills: a charge for charging their bill to a credit card.
 
There are a few bills I prefer to pay the same way. I have a couple accounts that can automatically debit a credit card when due—like my cell phone bill—and I don't have to worry about the exact closing date, plus I get air mileage and points that I can use toward rewards. It doesn't cost anything extra—no services charges. I had a friend that paid his Master Card on his American Express to get enough miles for a free vacation. Both cards had rewards so he was getting a double bonus.
 
Another possible reason are card companies that send a year-end statement of uses that helps with record keeping and tax preparation. Of course, the number one reason is probably to delay having to pay, to move out a payment that might be a little painful at the moment. There are lots of reasons that some people might prefer that type of payment service.
 
While the percentage of people using credit cards for payments has been low, it cost $700,000 last year. The Council's Administrative Services Committee considered if that might not still be cheaper than the cost of processing alternative payments, like staffing the drive-through windows. It wasn't.
 
The number of credit card transactions has been rising. The simplest way to handle the increase was to contract with a third party to process the payments. The transaction fee is to cover the credit card company and the processor's charges. It is an inconvenience for those that wish to use credit cards to also have to pay the transaction fee but it is also unfair for the many more customers paying by other methods to subsidize those that prefer credit cards. It's not just in Garland; it's other cities such as Austin, San Antonio, and Denton.
 
As the city has gotten more serious running a tighter ship and keeping the budget down, more services for which there were no fees have since been subject to fees so those that are actually using the service pay a greater share of the expenses.

While Customer Service is currently located at 800 Main St, another facility is under construction about a block north on Glenbrook that will have more drive-throughs.

UPDATE: The Administrative Services Committee report referenced above and given to the Council can be viewed here on CGTV (Item 2D).
 
UPDATE 2: A city official has told me that by state law the city cannot process credit and debit cards directly, that we have to use a third party. It is the third party fees that have been absorbed previously by all ratepayers. The city doesn't make money on the fees.