Sunbury committee advances draft $50 insufficient‑funds fee to be sent to council

Sunbury City Finance Committee reviewed a draft ordinance in March 2025 that would establish a $50 fee for insufficient or uncollectible payments.

City staff presented the draft as a new written policy to cover occasional bad checks and other payments that the bank cannot process. “I went ahead and put together a $50 penalty per transaction,” a city staff member told the committee. Staff said the fee was intended to cover the bank charge and staff processing time; the bank’s own NSF fee was not recalled precisely at the meeting but was estimated by staff at about $15.

Why it matters: the draft creates a formal penalty where none currently exists and clarifies how the city would recoup bank charges and processing costs when payments fail.

Committee members asked whether the draft should be limited to checks or cover other payment types. Staff agreed to revise the language so the ordinance does not specify only checks and instead applies to any payment the city cannot collect. Committee discussion also covered electronic-payment options: staff noted that recurring ACH automatic payments have no per-transaction fee, while one‑time online payments through the city website typically carry a processing fee paid by the customer.

Staff said they will obtain data on how many customers still pay by check and confirm the bank’s actual NSF charge before finalizing the ordinance language. The staff member said, after committee feedback, the draft will be forwarded to the city solicitor (Mister Bream) and scheduled for a future City Council agenda for formal consideration; no vote on the ordinance was taken at the Finance Committee meeting.

The committee did not set a date for council consideration. Staff will return with clarified ordinance language that explicitly covers payment methods and with data on payment channels and bank charges.