Politics & Government

Village Board Recap: FAR Discussion, Online Bill Payments

Board looks to implement online bill payment option for water and electric bills.

The Village Board discussed Local Law 1112 and the possibility of giving residents the option to pay electric and water bills online at Thursday's briefing session.

Trustees continued discussions on Floor to Area ratio numbers (FAR) for homes sitting on lots less than 7,200 square feet and those above it. FAR is the ratio of the square feet of a home — excluding attics, cellars and attached garages — compared to its lot size. Current code states that no matter the size of a lot a home sits on, the FAR cannot be more than 40 percent of its lot size.

For example, a home on an 8,000 square-foot lot could not expand more than 40 percent of its FAR, which would measure an additional 3,200 square feet.

Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Trustees want to expand the FAR for homes on lots of 7,200 square feet or less to 50 percent of its lot size, and homes on lots larger than that to be 42 percent. The discussion on FAR will continue at Monday's village board meeting at 8 p.m.

Trustees also debated an option for residents to electronically pay their water and electric bills. They voted to move forward with EVO Merchant Services — the largest privately held credit card processor and among the top ten largest non-bank acquirers in the US and Canada — to handle its electronic payment processing.

Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Once completed, residents will have the option to pay electric and water bills with their credit cards online. If a resident paid a bill online with an e-check, it would cost them an additional $2.50 per transaction. If a credit card was used to pay the bill electronically, the resident is charged 2.5 percent of the transaction plus an additional 50 cents.

For example, if a resident paid a $100 electric bill online with their credit card, they would pay an additional $3 fee for using the service.

Trustee Ed Oppenheimer was the lone trustee to vote against using EVO. He preferred using a bank for the village's electronic payment processing that would charge residents less for transactions. He added that he thought using EVO gauged the residents for extra money when paying bills.

The next village board meeting is Nov. 21 at 8 p.m.

 

 




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