My favorite punching bag, the City and County of San Francisco, has done something to may paying parking tickets a bit easier. You can, as before, pay on line, but you don’t have to pay the $2.75 surcharge for doing so. The city was trying to recover its costs for the web and using credit cards.
One question. Did a person coming to city hall to pay with a credit card have to pay the $2.75 surcharge? Anyone out there know?
The city added staff at the hall to lower the waiting times for paying (the additional staff knocked 9 minutes off the waiting time. Anyone know how long it was before?)
If the city had to add people to collect money at city hall, it would seem to me that a better deal for them would be to actually give people a discount if they pay on the ‘net, or surcharge them if they come to city hall. Maybe they could reduce their staff if more people used the web.
Make it a business transaction rather than a punitive one. Banks are surcharging for using a teller. Many businesses give discounts for people who pay early, or by mail/on the net. Why not a city? Just an idea.
JVH
