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Council approves contracts to let customers pay credit‑card merchant fee; city will add outreach and waivers for ACH/auto‑pay
Summary
Reno council approved two addenda that allow the city to pass credit‑card merchant fees to customers for several payment channels, a move staff said would save roughly $1.0+ million annually across funds. Officials said they will add customer communications and provide ACH/auto‑pay guidance and multilingual notices.
The Reno City Council voted unanimously on April 9 to approve two addenda allowing the city to pass credit‑card merchant fees to customers who choose to pay with credit or debit cards.
What changed: The council approved an addendum to the city's Wells Fargo merchant services agreement and a parallel addendum with Infosend/PACE for sewer billing platforms. Matt Taylor, assistant finance director, said the policy would place a 2.7 percent convenience fee on credit‑card payments while keeping cost‑free options available for customers who choose ACH/bank account payments, mailed checks, or in‑person cash payments.
Why it matters: Taylor said merchant fees totaled roughly $1.1 million in 2024 and that passing the fee to paying customers would save the general fund about $300,000 annually, the building enterprise fund about $200,000, and the sewer fund roughly $525,000. "These savings have not been included in the budget forecast for next year," Taylor told council, so if implemented they would lower next year's projected budget gap.
Consumer protections and outreach City staff said the change will be phased in, with targeted notices for customers, multilingual website messaging and bill inserts for utilities. For sewer billing the city plans customer outreach during July and October to let customers know they can switch autopay to ACH to avoid the fee; sewer auto‑pay customers will receive email reminders in November and December ahead of the fee going into effect in January 2026.
Council and vendor negotiation Council members asked staff whether the city shopped merchant rates; staff said the Wells Fargo relationship came through the city's existing merchant contract and had been negotiated in prior procurements. Vice Mayor Taylor urged staff to continue negotiating with other vendors (Chase, others) to seek lower fees.
Outcome Council motioned to approve two addenda (Wells Fargo; Infosend/PACE) and both motions passed unanimously.
Ending City staff said they will finalize messaging and vendor onboarding and that customers will be able to avoid the fee by switching to ACH/bank‑account payments or paying by check or cash.
