Paying taxes is never easy. As Tax Collector my job is to make that payment as painless as possible and customers have told me they wanted to pay by credit card and debit card, especially those cards which give rewards.     

Credit card and debit card companies charge a fee to businesses or governments who accept their cards. That fee is usually based on the dollar amount charged. Since most property tax payments are large, the fee for each payment can be a significant expense.  Since most customers still use “paper” checks, the cost of taking credit and debit cards would require additional tax dollars to provide a service which will not be used by most taxpayers.  To offset these costs, Florida law specifically provides for a convenience fee to be added to those transactions which would give our customers the option to use that form of payment if they wanted to pay fee. Until recent years, Discover was the only credit card company that allowed this convenience fee. Tax Collectors across the nation have worked hard to convince the credit card companies to allow a convenience fee for each credit card payment. Unfortunately these efforts have not been completely successful.  Due to Visa regulations we are still unable to accept Visa credit cards for "in person" payments.

 In 2001 we began offering credit card payments on our web site and through a special phone number. This year,  the convenience fee is 2.45% for property tax payments and $1.50 for business tax payments. The convenience fee is added to your tax payment and is paid to the company which processes the credit card transactions.

In 2005 we were able to accept debit card payments ($1.50 convenience fee added) and Discover credit card with a convenience fee added at all of our office locations.  In 2008 Master Card and American Express began allowing the convenience fee to be added to "in person" transactions.  Currently only Visa will not allow the convenience fee to be added to all the types of transactions we do in our service centers, so we cannot accept Visa cards in the office.

I will continue to strive to offer you the most courteous, convenient and cost effective service possible.  Obviously, as technology and the marketplace change, this office will also change.  If you have any suggestions, comments or questions about credit cards or any way this office can improve our services, do not hesitate to let me know.