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The Green Bay City Council will decide whether to adopt an ordinance requiring prepayment for fuel Tuesday June 21st. Last night information was presented to the City's Protection and Welfare committee. The matter will be heard by the full City Council on Tuesday. We have published some frequently asked below.

Prepay Fuel Proposal: Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the prepay ordinance?
A: This is a law that would be passed by local municipalities requiring gas stations to collect payment before dispensing fuel or, accept payment by an approved credit/debit card prior to dispensing fuel.

Q: Why is a prepay ordinance needed?
A: Fuel theft is a growing problem due to the increase in fuel prices. Some stations report over a 50% increase in losses. One chain reports losses of $36 thousand last year. Investigating these incidents is placing an enormous demand on the police and most cases are not prosecuted. Police investigate hundreds of these incidents each year diverting police attention from more serious matters. Fuel theft is 100% preventable if fuel stations require prepayment. It has worked everywhere its been tried.

Q: Why change now?
A: Gas prices have increased making fuel theft more common. For decades people bought fuel on the honor system. They received the fuel first, and then paid for it. Compare this to going to the grocery store and loading up your car and then going back inside to pay. A recent survey revealed that the majority of drive offs are believed to be unintentional.

Q: Why don’t fuel stations just adopt a prepay policy themselves? Why do we need an ordinance to make them do it?
A: A survey of business owners show that 87% do support the idea of prepay but without and ordinance some stations may not participate, thereby creating an unequal environment. Station owners surveyed agreed that the ordinance is the best way to accomplish this.

Q: As a consumer, if I pay with my fuel with a charge card or debit card, what changes?
A: Nothing will change. You will only be able to pump fuel if your charge card is correctly inserted in the pump and is accepted, just like it is now.

Q: If I pay for fuel with cash what changes?
A: The only thing that changes is you pay for your fuel before you pump, not after. This means going into the station and prepaying. The pump will be activated and would dispense the amount of fuel you paid for.

Q: What will happen if I prepay for more fuel than I need?
A: If you pump less than you pay for you will get a refund for the amount owed to you. For example, if you gave the clerk $40.00 and you only pumped $36.00 worth of fuel, you will get $4.00 back.

Q: If I pay with a charge card and want to make additional purchase inside the station what changes?
A: When you complete your fuel purchase you can go inside and pay for any other items. The only difference will be that the additional purchase will be on a separate transaction.

Hopefully this will answer the questions that people have about this proposal. The proposal was developed through research and surveying business owners, the victim of drive off thefts. It is one of the few totally preventable crimes.