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Council adopts 3.5% convenience fee for certain credit‑card/debit transactions; development services fee passes through to customers
Summary
Fayetteville repealed two earlier ordinances and approved a new 3.5% convenience fee on many credit‑card and debit‑card transactions effective April 15; development‑services transactions will be subject to the higher 3.5% pass‑through fee because the city’s processor for those invoices changed.
The Fayetteville City Council voted to repeal Ordinances 63‑15 and 63‑29 and adopt a new rule assessing a 3.5% fee on specified credit‑card and debit‑card transactions, effective April 15. The change primarily affects development‑services transactions that the city said are processed by a different vendor as of a recent Tyler Technologies contract change.
Keith (staff) told council that development‑services transactions previously carried a 2.95% pass‑through fee paid by customers; Tyler Technologies changed requirements for processing development services payments and the new processor rate is 3.5%. Staff estimated the change’s fiscal effect on customers at roughly $14,000–$15,000 annually across approximately 15,551 transactions in 2024 (the majority of larger transactions were paid by eCheck rather than credit card). Other city transactions (utility payments, parking, airport invoices, animal control, police invoices, parks and recreation fees and other miscellaneous billings) remain exempt from the pass‑through or continue to be absorbed by the city as specified in the ordinance.
Council moved to suspend the rules and proceed to third reading; the vote to suspend rules and the final ordinance vote both passed on roll call. Staff emphasized the change shifts the processing cost for development‑services credit‑card payments to the customers who use that payment method, not to the General Fund.
