This service is designed for users to make various payments to government and judicial offices and agencies that are required in day to day business. As this service expands to more County departments, as well as to the County's local municipal governments and CLEMIS-affiliated courts, so will the payment options, or types of payments, a user can choose from. This online service eliminates the need for a visit to a government office to make such payments, and it can allow the use of a credit card or electronic check to pay for products and services, or in the case of paying current or delinquent taxes, the County's Interactive Voice Response Unit.
See also: Access Oakland Account Services website
Overview:
- Customer performs payment transaction with Enhanced Access fees via Oakland County website
- Credit card is authorized at time of transaction via PayPal payment gateway OR Electronic Check is forwarded to ACH Direct
- Funds from transactions are processed by payment processors Elavon and ACH Direct on a daily basis.
- Transaction amount, including Enhanced Access fee, is deposited into Municipality depository account.
- On a monthly basis, Elavon debits Municipality depository account for processing fees and credit card fees.
- On a monthly basis, Oakland County pays invoices from PayPal for gateway fees.
- On a monthly basis, Oakland County pays invoices from ACH Direct for processing fees.
- On a quarterly basis, Oakland County invoices municipality for convenience fees minus fees deducted by Elavon
- Then net outcome being that the Municipality has the entire payment amount in their depository account after invoice has been paid.
Before a new agency can take advantage of the e-commerce system, several steps must be taken to prepare for this:
A resolution must be passed by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners giving the Chairman the right to sign the agreement between the County and the local unit of government. This resolution can be found in APPENDIX A. (This was completed on July 31,2008) A resolution must be passed by the local unit of government that:
- Authorizes your community to accept credit card and electronic check transactions as payment for taxes and other products and services.
- Authorizes your community to enter into contracts with payment processing services to process these payments.
- Authorizes your community to open and maintain a bank account to receive and deposit these payments.
- Authorizes your community to enter into a contract with the County to provide this service via its Web site and Interactive Voice Response Unit. Of particular importance to this sample resolution is the final paragraph. This paragraph is necessary to finalize the contract and cannot be omitted.
Questions regarding this sample resolution can be directed to Ed Sager at 248-858-0874 sagere@oakgov.com.
An E-Commerce Services Agreement must be signed by the Chairman of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners and the duly authorized officer of the local unit of government. This signed document must then be recorded and filed by the Oakland County Clerk who in turn files the document with the State of Michigan.
Questions regarding this agreement may be directed to either Ed Sager at 248-858-0874 or sagere@oakgov.com or Dawn Siegel at 248-858-1893 or siegeld@oakgov.com.
For questions from local municipality attorneys, please contact Oakland County Corporation Counsel attorneys Bill Mann at 248-858-0556 or mannw@oakgov.com or, if not available, Mike Blaszczak at 248-858-0551 or blaszczakm@oakgov.com.
An account for the processing of credit card transactions must be in place with Elavon, Inc. The County has negotiated with Elavon, Inc. to get the same credit card discount rates for transactions processed for the local units of government that the County pays for processing county transactions.
Questions regarding this application may be directed to Brian Price of Elavon, Inc. at (267) 744-4074 or brian.price@elavon.com.
An account for the processing of electronic check transactions must be in place with ACH Direct. The County has negotiated with ACH Direct to get the same electronic check discount rates for transactions processed for the local units of government that the County pays for processing county transactions.
Questions regarding this agreement may be directed to Craig Runeberg representing ACH Direct at (877) 370-9645 x106 or craigr@ncms-inc.com.
A depository account for your community must be active.
Questions regarding this agreement may be directed to Dan Viant of Citizens Bank at (248) 293-3010 or DAN.VIANT@citizensbanking.com.
An account for the authorization and capture of funds must be in place with PayPal.
Oakland County is compliant with industry-wide PCI security standards and does not save any of personal credit card information.