Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Payments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
LaPorte County moves to new payment vendor after card‑processing failures; clerk begins collections program
Summary
Treasurer Dan Barenie reported credit‑card readers and e‑check processing problems, including roughly $140,000 in returned e‑checks; the county approved a MuniciPay/AutoAgent contract (hosting and maintenance) and the clerk began using PayCourt to pursue accounts more than 90 days past due.
LaPorte County officials said July 1 they will move to a new online payment portal after recent problems with the county's prior processor.
Treasurer Dan Barenie told the Board that in the past two weeks roughly $140,000 in payments were returned to the county because payment vendors did not validate account information. He said the county's prior credit‑card vendor closed the county out of its service and presented a MuniciPay/AutoAgent hosting and maintenance contract integrated with the county's Low financial software for approval.
"In the last two weeks we had $140,000 returned to us because the accounts were not checked," Barenie said. "The credit card company is not even making sure the account number is valid...they closed us out yesterday so we have no credit card company right now." He asked the commissioners to approve the proposed MuniciPay contract. Commissioner Joe Haney moved to approve the contract; President Steve Holifield seconded and the motion carried 2‑0. Attorney Guy DiMartino noted the contract is a three‑year term that cannot be exited without cause.
Clerk Heather Stevens said the county will begin using a collections vendor, PayCourt, to pursue accounts more than 90 days past due. Stevens said the change is enforcement of court fines and addressed social‑media criticism that collections were a money grab.
The board approved the MuniciPay/AutoAgent contract and the clerk has begun running reports to refer long‑past‑due accounts to collections. County staff will follow normal procurement and contract review processes on implementation.
