County to end subsidy of online payment user fees

LIHU‘E — Due to budget constraints, the county government will soon stop subsidizing online payment user fees for county services, a Thursday press release states.

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, anyone opting to pay their sewer bill, real property taxes or motor vehicle registration fee online will also have to pay user fees as they do in all other Hawai‘i counties.

“Unfortunately, in these difficult economic times we aren’t able to continue to subsidize this cost and feel it’s appropriate to bring our policies in line with the rest of the state,” Finance Director Wallace Rezentes Jr. said in the release.

When someone makes an e-payment with an electronic check, the user fee will be $1 plus an additional $2.50 transaction fee.

Those paying with a credit card will be charged 2.2 percent of the transaction amount and an additional $2.50 per transaction.

Since online bill paying became an option on Kaua‘i in 2006, an increasing number of people utilize this service. The user rate, which started out at eight percent, has climbed to 16 percent.

For the past three years, the county has covered all user fees for online bill payments, which total over $700,000 to date.

In addition to online payments, residents and businesses can also pay their sewer bills, real property taxes, and motor vehicle registration fees by mailing a check or going to the appropriate county office to pay. No user fees are charged for these forms of payment.

For more information, call 241-4269 or 241-4271.