Transcript · Edina City Council
Edina City CouncilTranscriptThursday, July 10, 2025
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[Music] Starting in July, the city of Edina will begin charging a 3% convenience fee for payments made with a credit card. The first to roll out the new fee will be the fire department, which includes the public health division, South Metro Public Safety Training Facility, and building inspections division. Other departments will follow as their systems and processes are reconfigured. The fire department is one of the departments that has felt the significant impact of card processing fees. In 2023, the department had nearly 9,000 card transactions totaling nearly $5 million. The total amount of credit card fees paid by the department was more than $125,000 or over 2.5% of sales. Today's day and age, credit cards and debit cards are almost a primary form of payment. And so with that increased activity, it was really an evaluation of how can we be fiscally responsible for it. We understand the convenience factor of that. So, we want to make sure it was a convenience fee that's appropriate and fair, uh, and still represents an ability to do good service quickly and efficiently. After the fire department launches card processing fees in July, more departments will follow suit with five different point of sale systems and 10 different merchant processors across the organization. Each department has its own set of logistics to work through before the fee is in place citywide. There will be no convenience fees for customers paying with cash or check. The convenience fee will be outlined on all online payment systems and in person with signs. City staff will also mention the fee when helping customers in person or over the