Committee reviews draft cash-rounding notice and enforcement language, seeks template and consumer contact information

During the same April 21 session, the committee reviewed proposed statutory language that would require a business rounding cash transactions to post a clear and conspicuous notice at the point of sale or entrance explaining how the rounding works.

Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Council introduced the draft notice language: "Vermont law authorizes the rounding of cash transactions. A person or business engaged in a cash transaction may round the final amount due to the nearest nickel. If the final digit of the amount due was one or two, six or seven, the final amount due may be rounded down." He emphasized the provision would not affect electronic payments and suggested the Department of Liquor and Lottery could host a printable template.

The draft also allows the Secretary of Agriculture, Food, and Markets to issue penalties for failing to post the required notice under the unit-pricing statute (discussed in the hearing as 6 V.S.A. § 687). Committee members noted the House-passed changes to the agriculture chapter remove a specific $500 fine and reference broader penalty provisions in the agriculture title, which could change maximum penalty amounts and invoke a hearing process.

Members discussed operational details: whether the notice should include a phone number or QR code linking to the Vermont Consumer Assistance Program, whether the Department should specify sign dimensions or simply require "clear and conspicuous" posting, and how taxes and fees are defined in the rounding calculation. The draft defines "rounding" as adjusting the final total after taxes and fees.

The committee asked staff to add a template the department could host online, and to consider including a consumer contact phone number or URL. No enforcement action or final statutory language was adopted during the recorded session; members directed staff to adjust the draft and return with revisions.