Payments for Cities, Towns & Counties

Local governments collect dozens of payment types across departments, from building permits to dog licenses, and need each one coded to the right fund without paying card costs from the general budget.
Talk to a city office payments specialistExplore government & public sector solutions

Payment solutions for cities, towns & counties

How these solutions fit cities, towns & counties

See what each option adds to the way your business takes and tracks payments.

Service Fees

For cities, towns & counties: Present service-fee rules clearly when collecting permit fees, public-service bills and registrations, with the fee and payment recorded separately. Card networks let eligible government, higher-education tuition and utility merchants charge a disclosed service fee, which is different from a retail surcharge or convenience fee. Eligible government payments (such as MCC 9399) can carry a disclosed service fee, with ACH offered at no fee. Roots configures the service fee correctly for your merchant category and checks your state's rules.
  • Confirm your merchant category (including MCC 9311, 9399, 8220, 8249 or 4900) qualifies
  • Check state and local limits on fees
  • Configure fee display and receipts
Explore this solution

Online Bill Pay Portal

For cities, towns & counties: Give customers an online way to settle permit fees, public-service bills and registrations, using account references and outstanding bill balances. Roots builds branded bill-pay portals with payment collection, customer balances and transaction records. Book a free consultation to plan your portal and request a quote.
  • Discuss your business goals on a free consultation
  • Coordinate your provider introduction and setup
Explore this solution

Pay-by-Phone (IVR)

For cities, towns & counties: Let customers pay permit fees, public-service bills and registrations through an automated phone flow linked to the correct bill or account. An automated pay-by-phone line (IVR) lets residents pay cities, towns and counties any time, without staff hearing or handling card numbers. An automated line takes payments without tying up clerks. Roots sets up the IVR and connects it to your account records.
  • Script call flows and account lookup
  • Integrate with your billing system
  • Monitor call and payment completion
Explore this solution

Payment Gateway

For cities, towns & counties: Connect online or remote checkout for permit fees, public-service bills and registrations to a gateway that fits your business systems. a payment gateway configured by Roots connects cities, towns and counties to card and ACH processing online, over the phone and through your software. One gateway with department-level merchant IDs and fund coding. Roots sets up the gateway, connects it to your systems and coordinates account setup and ongoing support with the processing partner.
  • Connect the gateway to your website, portal or software
  • Configure fraud rules and user permissions
  • Migrate stored payment tokens where your current provider allows it
Explore this solution

ACH Payments

For cities, towns & counties: Offer bank-account payments for permit fees, public-service bills and registrations, with authorization and invoice matching built into the workflow. ACH lets cities, towns and counties collect permits, licenses, utility bills, fees and fines directly from a payer's bank account, usually at a lower cost than cards on larger payments. ACH as a free or low-fee option. Roots sets up ACH with authorization language and fraud controls that meet Nacha's rules.
  • Write compliant authorization language for residents
  • Set up account verification and return monitoring
  • Help you meet Nacha's 2026 fraud-monitoring requirements
Explore this solution
✓

Transfer initiated

$2,665.00 · ref ACH-7731

Unattended Payments

For cities, towns & counties: Build self-service checkout for permit fees, public-service bills and registrations at kiosks, stations or access points that operate without a staffed counter. Unattended payment kiosks and readers let cities, towns and counties take payments around the clock without a staffed counter. Self-service kiosks in lobbies and after-hours drop points. Roots specifies the hardware, sets up processing and connects it to your back-office system.
  • Specify kiosk hardware and placement
  • Integrate with your account or giving system
  • Monitor devices and support them after launch
Explore this solution

Custom Payment Integration

For cities, towns & counties: Connect the payment flow for permit fees, public-service bills and registrations with your software and the operational records behind case references, bill balances and department totals. Payments are only half the job. Cities & Counties also need each payment posted to the right account, invoice or record automatically. Payments post to your financial and permitting systems. Roots scopes, builds and supports the integration.
  • Map how payments should post in your system
  • Build, test and host the integration
  • Support and maintain it as systems change
Explore this solution

Cities, Towns & Counties payment questions

Start with the workflows your business needs. Options on this page include Service Fee Programs for Cities & Counties, Online Bill Pay Portal for Cities, Pay-by-Phone IVR for Cities & Counties. Roots helps compare the setup, software and processing requirements around how you operate.
Yes. Bring your current POS, checkout or billing tools and recent processing statements. We review invoices, registration payments, recurring collections and reconciliation, then plan the changes your cities, towns & counties business needs.
Request a quote for your business. The review covers your payment mix, locations, software, hardware recommendations and implementation work. Consultations and payment reviews are free.
Bring recent payment statements, the systems you use and a record of how a customer places an order, receives a service or pays a bill. Tell us which cities, towns & counties workflows need to improve so we can scope a practical setup.

Let’s set up payments for your cities, towns & countie business

Book a free 30-minute payment review to compare costs, address payment problems and plan your next steps.
Talk to a city office payments specialistExplore government & public sector solutions