Complaints about Austin and Travis County

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by Bp25

I don't think you understand what we are saying. There is no deal that CC companies offer to businesses. There is always a 2-4% charge for accepting CC. What businesses do it to add that 2-4% to the price of their goods and services for EVERY customer. So even if you pay by cash to 7-eleven, you are still paying that overhead. In order for travis county or city of austin to accept credit cards without charging you fee, they will have to raise the tax amount by that much for everyone. I don't think anyone will be happy with that solution.


Credit card companies did a good job of convincing customers that using credit card is free and they forced the businesses to offer the same price for cash and credit. That's the price we all pay for "convenience".

That makes sense, it doesn't change the fact that the city charging a taxpayer a $47 sur-charge to pay his property taxes with his debit card is outrageous. And, I suppose it's my own fault for not knowing, but it never once occurred to me to call the city in advance and ask them if there is a fee to pay my property taxes with a debit card.

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

That makes sense, it doesn't change the fact that the city charging a taxpayer a $47 sur-charge to pay his property taxes with his debit card is outrageous. And, I suppose it's my own fault for not knowing, but it never once occurred to me to call the city in advance and ask them if there is a fee to pay my property taxes with a debit card.

Look at it this way, they (the office collecting the tax) are getting charged a fee by the service provider for processing your payment by card. That won't change. It's gonna happen. If you didn't have to pay the card processing fee, then that money would come out of the budget. Basically, they'd have to raise taxes (or cut costs elsewhere) to cover the fees they pay for someone using a debit card or CC. Every taxpayer would be subsidizing those using a card instead of paying by check, etc. I, as a taxpayer, would be more pissed at that scenario where everyone is paying extra for some to use a debit card or credit card while others are using a cheaper method.

Even though the money comes from the same place (your bank account), the processing methods by debit card and by echeck or ACH are different and have different costs.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

That makes sense, it doesn't change the fact that the city charging a taxpayer a $47 sur-charge to pay his property taxes with his debit card is outrageous. And, I suppose it's my own fault for not knowing, but it never once occurred to me to call the city in advance and ask them if there is a fee to pay my property taxes with a debit card.

No, the city is NOT charging you a fee - they are simply passing on the charge that the debit/cc company is charging THEM. Complain to your debit card provider.

[blakely]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

That makes sense, it doesn't change the fact that the city charging a taxpayer a $47 sur-charge to pay his property taxes with his debit card is outrageous. And, I suppose it's my own fault for not knowing, but it never once occurred to me to call the city in advance and ask them if there is a fee to pay my property taxes with a debit card.

Why is the fee "outrageous" if the city has to pay the fee to the card company? It's a fee imposed by the credit/debit card companies. Where do you expect the city to find the money to pay those fees?

Unless they raise all of our property taxes by 3% to cover CC fees, they don't have an extra 3% sitting around to cover those expenses. And I'll wager most Austin residents would be strongly against an increase in property taxes to cover the cost of credit card fees.