Sussex County reduces fee for online tax payments

Sussex County is saving taxpayers money, thanks to lower online credit card fees that make paying tax bills more attractive to residents who like to use the computer.

According to County Administrator Todd Lawson, the reduced fee was effective immediately after Tuesday’s announcement. Now the online charge for tax bill payments will only cost one dollar. The lower fee is due to the county’s decision to absorb the difference taxpayers would pay.  Prior to the charge, online customers were hit with surcharges set as high as 2.5 percent enforced by a third-party vendor that handled the County’s online credit card payments.

“Charging the public $25 to pay a $1,000 tax bill is absurd. That’s not convenient,” said Lawson.

Although taxpayers who wanted to avoid the fee mailed in their checks or paid bills in person, officials hope the change will increase more traffic online for those looking to make things more convenient.

“I believe this decision will save taxpayers their hard-earned money. And it will encourage others to pay online, people who were previously discouraged by an unnecessarily high fee.”

Last year, more than 4-thousand customers used the online payment method.