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Proposed Ordinance Related to Retail Transactions; Creating Section 18-1 of Hernando County Code to be Entitled "Prohibition on Imposing Surcharge for Use of Debit or Stored Value Cards Unless Cash is Also Accepted as Payment"; Prohibiting Retail Businesses From Refusing to Accept Cash Payments for Goods or Services
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BRIEF OVERVIEW
Procedural History
At Commissioner Champion's request, the Board of County Commissioners, during its meeting of November 28, 2023, directed the County Attorney's Office to draft a proposed ordinance that would prohibit retail businesses from operating on a "cashless" basis.
The Board first considered the proposed ordinance during its meeting on January 9, 2024 (previous Item No. 13345), but the Board postponed the item to January 23, 2024. On the latter date, the Board voted to defer this matter until such time as (1) staff could prepare a report on which of the County's departments accepted, or do not accept, cash, and (2) the Legislature considered its own proposed bill on the same subject, i.e., CS/SB 106. (previous Item No. 13471). (Additionally, a plurality of the Commissioners stated that they wanted to reduce the number of exceptions in the proposed ordinance, but the Commissioners did not reach a consensus as to which exceptions should be removed.) Subsequently, Deputy County Administrator Toni Brady completed her report on the County's cash acceptance policies and CS/SB 106 died in committee.
The Board once again considered the proposed ordinance on July 9, 2024 (previous Item No. 14128), but one Commissioner was absent, and the Board's vote ended in a 2-2 tie. When the proposed ordinance came back before the Board on July 30, 2024 (previous Item No. 14255), it voted to reject it.
On February 24, 2026, the Board directed staff to place the proposed ordinance back on a future agenda for discussion purposes.
The Board then reconsidered the proposed ordinance on March 23, 2026 (previous item No. 17248)...
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