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Finance department proposes terminals, e-procurement and staff changes as credit-card fees rise
Summary
Aurora's finance department told the committee it plans new credit-card terminals, an e-procurement system and two staff additions; the department flagged rising credit-card processing fees as a material budget pressure and said a policy discussion about passing fees to customers will be scheduled in 2025.
The Aurora Finance Department presented its 2025 operations budget and identified rising credit-card processing fees, new procurement software and modest staffing additions as key items for the coming year.
Chris Minnick, chief financial officer and city treasurer, said the finance department’s 2025 budget is about $7.7 million—an increase of roughly $480,000 or 6% over 2024—driven in part by higher credit-card transaction costs, subscriptions for new software and proposed staffing changes.
Lisa Zepeda, manager of revenue and collections, told the committee the city has seen an increase in credit-card use for utility payments and that some cards (notably certain reward cards) have raised per-transaction costs. The department proposed buying additional card terminals—estimated at about $600 each for roughly 10 units in the decision package—and replacing terminals tied to a planned online payment implementation. "There is a goal to put 10 additional [terminals] at DSC," Zepeda said, noting installation may be staged.
The department is also evaluating an e-procurement system and a subscription-based solution that would include an annual maintenance cost. Jolene Coulter, director of purchasing, said the software is expected to be subscription-based with ongoing annual fees and that the team is gathering proposals before final procurement.
Staffing decision packages include an accounts-payable supervisor and a purchasing administrative aid (with a concurrent title change for an existing administrative aid to purchasing specialist). If approved, finance would have about 53 full-time equivalent positions including water-billing and parking enforcement staff.
On policy, Minnick said the city plans a 2025 finance-committee discussion on whether to pass credit-card fees to users or absorb them. "We will have that coming up for discussion at a finance committee meeting," he said, pointing to philosophical and policy trade-offs.
