County OKs credit card use at UW Extension

People will now be able to pay with credit or debit cards at the UW-Extension office.

At the January 11 county finance and personnel committee, members approved allowing the department to begin accepting credit and debit cards working through the pay.gov vendor.

UW-Extension Program Assistant Kelly Phillips said there was a need to begin accepting the cards because fewer people carry checks or cash. She explained that the department charges for fees for 4H Day Camps, Strong Body programs and plat books. She said they have had to turn away a number of people who want to use their debit card to pay for plat books.

Phillips said that going through pay.gov would have no fees to the county, with the customers paying all processing fees and assume any liability. The same system is used in land conservation and other county departments.

The county requires each department wishing to accept credit cards to get specific permission for their department from the finance and personnel committee.

In other business, committee members: Interviewed in closed session candidates to replace finance director Larry Brandl who will retire later this year. The candidate selected will have to go through background checks before being formally hired.

Reviewed the vouchers to cover bills paid by the county with questions raised about fees charged by the Golden Sands Resource and Conservation Council. After review of the invoices, land conservation committee member Ray Soper said the county contracted with Golden Sands to do a number of lake surveys to determine the amount of invasive species present.