Coon Rapids’ prepay gas law in effect Aug. 1
When the prepay gas ordinance goes into effect Monday, Aug. 1, Coon Rapids will become the first city in Minnesota to implement such a law.
All gasoline sales at Coon Rapids businesses will be prepay effective Aug. 1 under a new city ordinance. Source: Internet
Under the ordinance, which was adopted by a 5-2 vote of the Coon Rapids City Council Feb. 21 with an Aug. 1 start date, prepayment can include paying by credit card at the pump, or going inside and paying cash before the pump is turned on.
But the new law does have an exception to the prepay requirement offered by Councilmember Bruce Sanders.
That states, “It is an exception… if business owners enter into a civil agreement with customers, pursuant to which customers may activate a fuel pump prior to payment.
“Such an agreement shall include identifying information of the customer that may be used by the business owner for seeking compensation in the appropriate civil court should the customer fail to pay for fuel after activating the pump.”
There was strong opposition to the ordinance from most gas operators-owners in Coon Rapids, who at a council work session in late January were given the opportunity to state their case and offer alternatives, which included a civil process to deal with gas no pays.
An unsuccessful effort to scuttle the ordinance was also made at the Minnesota Legislature this past session when bills were introduced in both the Senate and House that would have prevented it from going into effect.
But the legislation was not part of the omnibus transportation bill that emerged from a House-Senate conference committee and was eventually passed by both bodies and signed by Gov. Mark Dayton.
Nor has the city been served with any legal action to try and stop the implementation of the ordinance Aug. 1, according to City Attorney David Brodie.
“We have received no contact on any possible litigation to stop the ordinance,” Brodie said.
Police Chief Brad Wise, who initiated the prepay ordinance as a crime prevention tool to minimize the number of no-pay/gas drive offs from Coon Rapids retail fuel businesses – 492 in 2010 and 481 in 2011 – sent a letter to all gas station owner-operators in the city earlier this month to remind them of the impending ordinance start date and urging them to be in compliance.
In the letter, hand-delivered by Community Policing Officer Terry Thomton, Wise draws the attention of owners-operators to the exception to the prepayment for fuel provision.
“The exception to prepayment or payment at the pump for fuel requires that a retailer know and have on file the name of the customer prior to activating a pump,” Wise wrote.
“This exception was inserted into the ordinance as a method for you to acknowledge your loyal customers.”
But to ensure compliance with this exception, the police department will from time to time conduct spot checks similar to those done to monitor alcohol and tobacco sales, according to Wise.
“Our goal with these checks will be to verify compliance with city ordinance, not to criminally charge cashiers,” Wise wrote.
However, a violation of the ordinance by “any person or business establishment” is a misdemeanor, he wrote.
The intent of the prepayment of gasoline and diesel fuel ordinance is crime prevention, according to Wise.
“Reducing crime in Coon Rapids matters for the prosperity and livability of our city, including our businesses and their employees,” Wise wrote in his letter to the retail fuel business owners/operators.
The number of no-pay calls from gas stations to the police department has dropped off significantly since the debate began at the council level, he said.
According to Wise, the police department has received only 42 drive-off calls so far this year compared with 310 for the same period a year ago.
“Gas stations are not calling police, but people have not stopped stealing gas,” Wise said.
Responding to drive off reports has also been a drain on police resources and led to a spike in the city’s crime rate, he said.
And 15 percent of the gas thefts in 2011 were by people in vehicles with stolen license plates, he said.
Thomton deliver the letter from Wise to 26 retail fuel establishments in the city.
“Everyone seemed fairly receptive,” Thomton said.
Two had closed, the BP at Crooked Lake and Coon Rapids boulevards and the EZ Stop on Coon Rapids Boulevard, according to Thomton.
When he talked to the EZ Stop owner, Thomton said he was told the business closure was not because of the prepay ordinance, but rather because of the cost of complying with Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) underground storage tank requirements.
One fuel establishment, the SuperAmerica located near Home Depot on Main Street, has required prepay since before the city began talking about an ordinance, he said.
Switching to a prepay system is merely a matter of changing the settings on the pump system and the only station that did not have the required pump card reader was the former EZ Stop, Thomton said.
Wise has also penned a letter to the community that has been given to council members when they field calls from residents and will be distributed to city department heads to handle inquiries, he said.
At the work session Jan. 23, gas station owners/operators raised concerns that the ordinance would result in a loss of business and higher costs in credit card fees they would have to pay.
The council was told that the jump in credit card use caused by a prepay ordinance would increase business costs because each time a credit card is used there is at least a 2 percent fee plus a transaction fee.
Rick Dehn of Dehn Oil in Anoka, which owns Foley Quick Mart, the Marathon service station at Foley and Northdale boulevards, was one of the gas station owner/operators to speak out against the ordinance in January.
Dehn has not changed his position, he said.
While he will not incur any costs switching all his pumps to prepay when none are now, Dehn anticipates losing business because Foley Quick Mart is barely a mile from Blaine, which does not mandate prepay at the pump.
“Customers have told me they are offended by being branded criminals and won’t buy their gas anymore in Coon Rapids,” Dehn said.
Right now, 50 percent of his customers use credit cars to prepay at the pump, while the other 50 percent pump gas, then come into the store to purchase other items and then pay or just to simply pay for their gas, according to Dehn.
Requiring prepay will mean increased credit card use and higher credit card fees that Dehn Oil will have to pay, Dehn said.
“At the low end I estimate that will cost is $7,000 a year, at the high end, $14,000 a year of our gross profits,” he said.
He thinks other retail fuel establishments in Coon Rapids, including the large companies like Kwik Trip and Holiday, will see the same impact, Dehn said.
According to Dehn, drive-offs were never a big issue at his Marathon station, about two a month.
However, the Minnesota Legislature did pass legislation this past session backed by gas station owners/operators that no longer requires positive identification by the employee in a photo line-up to prosecute drive-offs, Dehn said.
It puts in place a civil process, whereby the employee makes a note of the license plate of the vehicle having gas pumped and if there is a no-pay the business sends letter to the license plate owner of record, demanding payment within 30 days, he said.
Response has been good when that has occurred, he said.
Only if payment is not received is the case turned over police for prosecution.
However, Wise said that he has been told by the city attorney’s office that it would be unlikely a case could be prosecuted under those circumstances.
Dehn remains opposed to the prepay gas ordinance and is also confused by the “exception” provision, for which he is seeking clarification from the city, he said.
In the 5-2 council vote to adopt the ordinance, Mayor Tim Howe and Councilmember Jerry Koch voted no. Councilmembers Paul Johnson, Denise Klint, Melissa Larson, Sanders and Scott Schulte voted year.
Peter Bodley is at peter.bodley@ecm-inc.com
This kind of action is why I have moved from Coon Rapids. Too many times the public has voiced majority opposition to the Council actions only to be ignored. I have for too long wondered why we work for the City government instead of them working for us. I see the Coon Rapids gestapo is in high form still.
I will not be using Coon Rapids gas stations. I’m going to be charged by my bank (tcf) 30 cents every-time I use my debit card. And it’s also costing the station owners money. The only one who wins on this is the Chief for artificially lowering the crime rate.
If I want to buy coffee and use my debit card add on another 30 cents when I pay for it inside the store…
Today is July 31was out and about today knowing that aug 1st.is pre pay at the pumps so I do alot of summer fishing so I went too my local fueling statoins I have been going too for over twenty years I asked if I can fuel my truck and boat and turn the pumps on for me if I gave them my driver license number or truck number these were both Corp. Stations there reply was you have to guess how much fuel you need and you might have too make more than one trip into station my reply was I won’t be buying fuel in coon rapids Any more they treat you like a crimmal just asking questions
i will go to nearest gas station in blaine.
I was watching the news and credit card skimming is a growing problem. This is one, of the many reasons why I pay with cash. I also like the discount coupons I recieve from Cub and use them at Holiday. I’m sure I would have to make a couple of trips in and out, for me to use these. And like Steve, I bank with TCF and they have recently started charging a P.O.S. at .30 cents each swipe. There is no way I’m going to put myself through this hassle, I will re-adjust my habits and buy somewhere else.
I’m guessing the police Chief will be working in another city this time next year, after getting a bigger salary from some other city because he lowered the crime rate here. To bad it came at a cost to the gas station owners and Coon Rapids citizens.
Well, a couple of thoughts, no problems with prepay, if you ever travel out of Coon Rapids you would have found out many gas stations in other cities and states have only prepay. Try dump your bank and go to a credit union, I have no POS charges. I am very pround that we have a progressive city and have chosen to be proactive.
I understand that just ONE station was responsible for over 20% of the no pays last year. And just a few stations had most of the calls. Why didn’t the CRPD and City Council focus on these sources of the crime, not just treating the symptoms.
I’m sure the station owners in Blaine and other surrounding communities will enjoy their additional business, formerly conducted in Coon Rapids.
Police chief solving a problem that was not his to solve at the expense of businesses and customers.
Drive offs are not the responsibility of the PD to prevent. If gas station/convenience store owners don’t like the loss of revenue created by drive offs, they already have measures and practices they can put in place to prevent them. Cameras and attendants to record license plates and systems like http://www.post-paygas.com/ that require you to swipe your drivers license to record your info, after you pay your info is deleted automatically.
These laws take the convenience out of Convenience Stores. Requiring multiple trips and added hassle that is only going to cost stores more credit card processing fees from increased pay at the pump swipes VS cash inside and lost sales from people who would otherwise grab some thing else, had they gone inside.
So how does a owner make back that lost revenue? Cut over head, Go to a unattended station. Only prepay at the pump, no more staff manning the store to take your cash or sell you that hot dog and soda. In my travels unattended stations seem more common in cities with these laws. Great way to take money out of the local community by costing jobs of would be attendants.
What we need is to get people on the City Council that can vote to repeal this silly law.
While I like and respect Chief Wise (I have sat on the Safety Commission for the last 8 years), he is wrong on this issue. His concern is that the police cannot solve these crimes more than 9 times out of 10, but they eat up a lot of officer time and reflect poorly on the “crime score” that Coon Rapids posts on the website.
Passing laws that tell businesses how to do business is not the answer, and there are a multitude of unintended consequences with this one. What about coupons for gas? That requires a second transaction and a lot more time. What about getting customers into the building to buy the other products (food, drinks, etc…) that stations make the bulk of their profit on? Most people will simply pay at the pump (where the station loses that 2%) and then drive away. What about people that want to fill the tank? How many people know how much their tank needs, and then if they over-prepay they have yet another transaction!
Stations heard the concerns of the city and were working this out for themselves. Once again the City Council used heavy-handed judgement to force an issue that should have been left alone.
As a business decision each station could elect to require prepay (perhaps at certain times of day), do customer profiling (including known offenders and vehicles), put in security cameras and other controls, or just reinstate full service filling by an attendant. The important thing is that they be allowed to operate their business as they see fit, not through some ill-conceived regulation.
The CRPD could elect to ignore these drive-off calls, or place a surcharge on the stations if a response is made. Certainly there are more important public safety and quality of life issues they should be attending to.
GO TO HWY 10 MOBIL ON HANSON BLVD & N.DALE BLVD GET YOUR FREE RIZER REWARDS LOYALTY CARD. YOU WILL NOT NEED TO PREPAY FOR FUEL FIRST BEFORE PUMPING WITH A RIZER CARD. SIGN UP NOW, WE ALLOW ROLLBACK AT PUMPS,COUPON TRANSACTIONS, ETC!!!!!. NO NEED FOR COMING IN TWICE WITH US. WE GOT IT DONE PROPERLY FOR YOU THE CUSTOMER. PLUS 5 CENTS A GALLON DISCOUNT W/ RIZER LOYALITY CARD MEMBER !!!!!!. YOUR LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS FOR MORE THAN 30 YRS.
I really can’t understand the big deal! Most people who were paying at the pump were already prepaying. There are many places where the public is not even allowed to pump their own gas, it is all full service ( New Jersey is one). This has been the law in many cities and states around our country for quite sometime and somehow all those people seem to have survived and are doing just fine. I can’t believe some of the comments I have read here!
I understand that more drive offs are taking place at gas stations in surrounding communities since the ordinance went into effect. Obviously the law has merely displaced the criminal activity from one suburb to another. The CRPD would have been more effective in dealing directly with the few stations (owners and operators) responsible for most of the crime. The CR stations themselves passively let this foolish law be put in place without banding together and working against its passage. I talked to multiple station employees during the month of July who knew nothing about the ordinance going into effect August 1.
When will crap like this stop? when you actively work to throw out the people who voted to pass it!