SANTA ANA, CA (February 29, 2012) – On February 21st the Santa Ana City Council approved the suspension of the City’s credit card and electronic funds transaction fee of $3.54 for a period of six months and it will take effect on March 01, 2012. Finance staff reports that although the administrative fee is nominal, customers are reluctant to make their payment on-line if it involves an additional charge.
The motivation for suspending the fee is to encourage on-line payment; which in turn, is expected to reduce the number of paper checks processed by staff. Paper processing is very labor intensive and costly. A reduction in staff through attrition has necessitated revisiting labor intensive processes to look for alternatives. On-line payment processes are less labor intensive and are needed during these times of cut-backs. A report of the suspension of the fees will be provided to the City Council at the end of the six-month trial period. If this proves to be a popular program and it increases the City’s ability to effectively process on-line payments, staff will recommend making the program permanent.
As a convenience to applicants, the Treasury Division is also moving towards providing the ability to apply and pay for Business Licenses, Dog Licenses, Parking Citations, and other municipal payments on-line. For information regarding payment on-line, call customer service at (714) 647-5454.
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