Oklahoma City Municipal Code § 52-1 Legislative findings regarding the imposition of service fees on certain tax payments, permits, licenses, and fees set forth in Chapter 52.
§ 52-1. - Legislative findings regarding the imposition of service fees on certain tax payments, permits, licenses, and fees set forth in Chapter 52.
(a) For decades, the City has accepted payment by credit and debit cards for tax payments, permit fees, license fees, and a variety of City services. The City incurs substantial processing fees when accepting payment by credit and debit cards. The City has historically subsidized these processing expenses from its General Fund. These fees are continually increasing. In fiscal year 2024-2025, the City incurred in excess of $900,000.00 in processing and associated fees for accepting credit card and debit card payments.
(b) The City has considered the feasibility of imposing a "Service Fee," as authorized by 14A O.S. § 2-211, upon those persons or entities making payment by credit or debit cards for certain tax payments, permits, fees and licenses, in order to minimize loss to the City's main operating fund - the General Fund.
(c) The City defines a "Service Fee," by credit card industry standards, as fees incurred by the City, such as processing and financial transaction fees incurred only by the acceptance of credit and debit card payment, which will hereafter be passed on to the purchaser who is making payment to the City via credit or debit cards, whether online or in-person. The Service Fees which may be recouped are limited as set forth in state law.
(d) Software updates and other actions to enable this Service Fee to be charged by the City, will come at an additional cost to the City; therefore, the City will charge Service Fees only as set forth in Chapter 52, on those certain tax payments, permits, licenses, and fees which on average cost the City the most in processing and financial transaction fees.
(e) The City shall post, clearly and conspicuously, a notice of the amount of the Service Fee at the point of entry and the point of sale for in-person transactions and on the home page and the point-of-sale webpage for online transactions. Such notice shall also be verbally disclosed to the customer for transactions processed over the phone.
(f) No Service Fee shall be imposed by the City if the only acceptable payment method for the certain tax payment, permit, license, or fee is via credit or debit cards.
(g) Service Fees are not being charged as a revenue stream for the City but merely to recoup the actual processing costs the City incurs for accepting credit and debit card payments.
(Ord. No. 27,977, § 1, 11-18-25)