[0:00] well greetings everybody this is Jim [0:02] Hufflin your Adina mayor and this is the [0:04] mayor's minute for Thursday June 26 2025 [0:08] another soggy day in Edina you know [0:11] starting in July the city of Edina will [0:13] begin charging a 3% convenience fee for [0:16] payments made with a credit card the [0:18] first to roll out the new fee will be [0:19] the fire department which includes the [0:21] public health division our south metro [0:24] public training facility and the [0:25] building inspections division [0:27] other departments will follow as their [0:29] systems and processes are reconfigured [0:32] to accommodate credit card fees the fire [0:34] department is one of the departments [0:36] that has felt the significant impact of [0:38] credit card processing fees in 2023 the [0:42] department had nearly 9,000 credit card [0:44] transactions totaling almost $5 million [0:48] the total amount of credit card fees [0:50] paid by the department by the city was [0:53] more than $125,000 [0:55] over two and a half percent of sales [0:58] under state law cities have the [1:01] authority to charge convenience fees or [1:03] service charges when customers choose to [1:05] use a card in lie of a check or cash [1:09] there won't be a convenience fee for [1:10] customers paying with cash or check [1:12] however the convenience fee will be [1:15] outlined on all online payment systems [1:18] and in person with signs city staff will [1:22] also mention the fee when helping [1:23] customers in person or on the phone [1:26] after the fire department launches its [1:28] credit card processing fees in July as I [1:31] said earlier more departments will [1:33] follow suit with five different points [1:35] of sales systems and 10 different [1:37] merchant processing locations across the [1:39] organization each department has its own [1:42] set of logistics to overcome before the [1:44] fee is in place citywide thank you for [1:47] your understanding as we make this shift [1:48] in how we process sales this is Jim Hov [1:51] and that's your mayor's minute for [1:53] Thursday June 26 2025 i hope you have a [1:57] great rest of the week