City might accept plastic

The City Council delayed voting on a proposal that would have allowed

the use of credit cards for payments to the city.

The proposal would have made it possible to make credit card

payments at City Hall, the Police Station and in Recreation.

Administrative Services Director Rich Swanson presented the measure

to the council as a good way to make doing business with the city

more convenient for residents.

“We have a lot of members of the public that walk in and ask to

use credit cards. People these days, believe it or not, don’t carry

checkbooks with them, and they don’t often have cash,” Swanson said.

Though council members expressed an interest in the idea, they

were cautioned by the anticipated costs of accepting credit cards.

The city could pay up to $60,000 per year in transaction costs,

Swanson said, adding the expected costs in the first year of the

program could be closer to half of that number.

In the proposal, Bank of America, the city’s bank, was recommended

to handle credit payments. For each credit transaction, the bank

charges 10 cents plus 1.65% of the amount of the payment.

If the council adopted the measure, the costs could have been paid

for by upping various fees, such as those for parking and development

permits, animal licensing and fines. If the proposal had been

approved, fees could have gone up anywhere from 1.75% to 2%.

For Councilman Wayne Baglin, the idea of increasing fees for the

sake of convenience was unfair to Lagunans who are content to conduct

transactions with the city with cash or checks.

“The rest of us, who are willing to write a check, are going to be

asked to pay for it,” Baglin said.

On the other side was Councilwoman Toni Iseman, who said the

increased efficiency of accepting credit cards would make up for the

cost.

“I can’t believe that we’ve gone this long without it,” Iseman

said.

Though the council left the matter undecided on Tuesday, the city

could begin accepting credit cards as early as mid-summer.

“Could it happen by July 1? Maybe, if we come to [the council] in

May,” City Manager Ken Frank said.

Frank said a revised proposal could be brought forward in

mid-March, when he expects the council to consider parking permit

renewals, or when the council approves next year’s budget. The

council usually votes on the budget during the second meeting of

June.

-- Andrew Edwards

PFLAG meeting set for Feb. 18

The next meeting of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and

Gays will be 7 p.m. Feb. 18 in the Sun Room of the United Methodist

Church, 24442 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Woods.

The meeting will feature a presentation by the Election Committee

of the County of Orange. The group will discuss upcoming political

issues.

For more information, call (949) 459-2834.