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Board debates accepting credit‑card payments, raises data‑security and process concerns
Summary
The town clerk said she is drafting a resolution and policy to accept credit/debit cards for town payments, but several board members raised data‑security, signature retention and phone‑payment risks and recommended delaying broader acceptance until vendor compliance and best practices are confirmed.
The board discussed a proposed resolution to accept credit and debit cards for town payments; the clerk said she is drafting a policy based on practices used by other municipalities. "I'm drafting a policy that is based upon my discussion with a couple of other people," the clerk said, noting she had reviewed practices used by nearby towns and the town of Olive.
Members raised consistent data‑security concerns about scanning authorization forms and retaining card information. One board member recommended holding off: "I would recommend we don't accept credit card until February and you guys table this and we come up with a best practice," the board member said, citing risks around retaining scanned signatures with card numbers and the town’s need to comply with GML guidance and vendor encryption.
Discussion covered in‑office swipes vs. online payments, whether to accept phone authorizations, how long signed receipts should be retained (board members said 12 months for chargeback periods is common), and whether to limit the town to vendor‑hosted encrypted solutions that expose only masked digits to staff. The board agreed to consult other town clerks and vendors and to return with a refined policy and recommended vendor compliance before broadening payment acceptance.
No final policy was adopted at the meeting; staff were instructed to gather best‑practice guidance, confirm vendor encryption options and present a revised resolution at a later meeting.
