Page 4 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2022 Councillor seeks answer to city’s credit card fees By Adam Swift S 425r Broadway, Saugus Located adjacent to Kohls Plaza Route 1 South in Saugus at the intersection of Walnut St. We are on MBTA Bus Route 429 781-231-1111 At this time, the state requires everyone to wear masks We are a Skating Rink with Bowling Alleys, Arcade and two TV’s where the ball games are always on! PUBLIC SKATING SCHEDULE 12-8 p.m. Sunday Monday Tuesday $9.00 Price includes Roller Skates Rollerblades/inline skates $3.00 additional cost Private Parties 7:30-11 p.m. $10.00 Price includes Roller Skates Adult Night 18+ Only Wednesday Thursday Friday Everyone must pay admission after 6 p.m. Private Parties Private Parties 4-11 p.m. Saturday 12-11 p.m. $9.00 $9.00 Everyone must pay admission after 6 p.m. Sorry No Checks - ATM on site Roller skate rentals included in all prices Inline Skate Rentals $3.00 additional BIRTHDAY & PRIVATE PARTIES AVAILABLE www.roller-world.com ince returning to the City Council after two decades away, Ward 5 Councillor Al Fiore has been a vocal opponent of the fees and fi nes he has said that “whack the little guy.” At last Monday night’s City Council meeting, Fiore presented a motion asking Mayor Brian Arrigo to appear before the council to explain why taxpayers, rather than the city, are being charged an additional three percent tax when using a credit card. “I’ve gotten calls from residents that people who can’t really aff ord to pay their taxes are doing it by credit card and are getting hit with a three percent fee,” said Fiore. Fiore said the roughly $300,000 to $400,000 in annual fees is not a lot of the money compared to the overall municipal budget. “When the pizza shop owner sells a pizza for 12 bucks, he pays the three percent,” said Fiore. “So, philosophically, I’m just wondering the reason … the city is asking the taxpayer to absorb the three percent.” Richard Viscay, Revere’s finance director, stepped to the podium to clear up questions about the credit card fees for city payments. He noted that during the pandemic the city suspended a number of fees, including the three percent credit card pass-through fee. The city ended the suspension of the fees at the end of 2021. Viscay said the city covered about $300,000 in credit card fees in 2020, with the number increasing to over $400,000 in 2021. “It’s quite costly to pick those fees up,” said Viscay. While merchants do pick up the credit card pass-through fees, he said, the city cannot legally waive those fees for its bills. “So there are two things that we can do, which is either pass along that service charge, which isn’t really a charge that the city is giving to the taxpayer, but more so the credit card company for the use of the credit card,” said Viscay, or we could absorb it.” Viscay said the city has gotten word out about the other ways residents can pay their tax bills without incurring credit card fees, including using a debit card, paying online using an ACH payment or mailing or dropping off a check. “It has been quite costly to cover those fees, and it’s only going to go up once people know they can pay their taxes with their credit card and reap the benefi ts of mileage on fl ights, etc.,” said Viscay. “I think it would be great if we could absorb these fees, but I can see this becoming a seven figure line item as people found out about it more and more. So we made the tough decision to suspend that, and we are certainly getting calls on it as well, but we want people to know what the fee is and it’s not a fee we are charging.” Fiore said he understood where Viscay was coming from but said that some people may be using the credit cards on tax payments because they cannot aff ord to make the payment all at once. Fiore also said the city needs to focus on getting the City Hall budget under control and give more fi nancial breathing room to its residents. “We keep spending, and taxes keep going up, and we keep whacking the little guy,” said Fiore. Ward 4 Councillor Patrick Keefe said the city should be looking at additional ways to assist taxpayers who may have trouble paying their bills. Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky added that if the city did pick up the service fee payments, it would have to be absorbed into the budget and would still ultimately be passed along to the taxpayers. Fiore’s motion was sent to the City Council’s Ways and Means Subcommittee for further discussion. PARKING | FROM Page 1 Viscay said there are business district parking passes available for the lot for $100 a year and that the meters are charged at half the rate of the street meters. He said there are also free spots available for use by patrons of the senior center, and that when there are larger events, seniors can get printed passes to park in the lot for free. “This is a way to clean up a lot that was otherwise in terrible condition and bring some order into it, and we are proposing to reinvest that money into the community with the parking benefi t district,” said Viscay. “I don’t like to hear the rhetoric that this is balancing the budget; we are trying to do good by the city by doing this.” Councillor-at-Large Dan Rizzo said he doesn’t believe the administration is using the meters for great fi nancial gain, but he said if it was up to him, he’d like to see the city do away with meters altogether. Rizzo said he would rather see signs for time-limited parking that are enforced rather than meters. City Council President Gerry Visconti said he has an issue with people from outside the city using free spots in Revere and then taking the bus into Boston. “But I do see where Councillor Fiore is coming from, as well,” said Visconti. “Let’s not forget, the parking on Broadway is not done to nickel and dime the residents; I think it is done for turnover, as well, so cars do not park there for the entire day.” Fiore and McKenna’s motion was referred to the Traffi c Commission for its consideration of the issue.
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