Summary:
On October 17, 2023, the City Council approved ORD. 2023-17 amending Section 2-217 of the Peoria City Code and authorizing the City to impose a service fee of 2.80 percent per transaction on debit and credit card payments through the Invoice Cloud payment service for all City services except payments for development-related services. In a previous meeting Council approved the imposition of a 2.23 percent service fee ($1.00 minimum) for development related services.
This amendment will impose one consistent fee of 2.80 percent per transaction ($2.95 minimum) on debit and credit card payments for those City services currently on the Invoice Cloud payment platform. The affected services include utilities, business licenses, and development-related services, which comprise the vast majority of payments received by the City. Only the development-related services will experience a change in the service fee, since they currently are subject to a 2.23 percent fee ($1.00 minimum) from a previously negotiated agreement.
Customers paying for miscellaneous accounts receivable or for services provided by the Parks and Recreation, Neighborhood and Human Services, Police, Fire-Medical, and other departments will not be impacted unless and until they transition to the Invoice Cloud payment service.
As always, customers who wish to avoid paying the service fee and still make payments electronically can do so through ACH electronic funds transfer. ACH electronic funds transfer offers a no-cost method to pay a City utility bill, business license, or host of other City services on a one-time or recurring basis.
The practice of imposing a service on debit and credit card transactions is legal, subject to certain rules and limitations, and is becoming increasingly common among Valley cities.