A Hamer Enterprises charge on your statement is a convenience fee for a government payment you or someone in your household made through one of the company’s online portals. Hamer Enterprises Corporation, based in McAllen, Texas, runs payment platforms that let people pay property taxes, traffic fines, vehicle registrations, permit fees, utility bills, and other government obligations by credit card, debit card, or electronic check. The fee is separate from the tax or bill itself and covers the cost of processing the payment.
How the Charge Shows Up
On most card statements, the fee appears under one of two descriptors: “Government Payments” or “Hamer Ent Svc Fee.”1eCitizen Portal. Terms of Service It’s often listed alongside the phone number 800-926-3466, which is the company’s customer support line.2eCitizen Portal. Terms of Service Because the descriptor doesn’t name the county or city that received the payment, the line item can look unfamiliar.
The fee is charged per transaction. Paying several bills in one session can generate a separate convenience fee for each one. The underlying government payment goes directly to the agency and may show up as its own line or not at all on your statement, depending on how the agency processes it.
Why You May Not Recognize It
A few common scenarios explain an unfamiliar Hamer charge:
- A household member paid a government bill online without mentioning it.
- The generic “Government Payments” descriptor doesn’t connect obviously to a specific tax or permit.
- The convenience fee posted as a small standalone charge days after the main payment already settled.
- You enrolled in recurring payments or auto-pay through the eCitizen Portal and the fee is now repeating on the schedule you set.
Recurring and auto-pay enrollment require registration on the portal, and the fee disclosure appears at the time of enrollment.2eCitizen Portal. Terms of Service If you forgot about signing up, the charge can look like an unauthorized subscription when it’s actually a payment plan you set in motion.
What the Fee Pays For
Hamer Enterprises doesn’t charge the government agency for its service. It collects its revenue directly from the payer through the per-transaction convenience fee.3Hidalgo County. Credit Card Processing Services Agreement, City of La Joya The agency receives only the amount owed. Monroe County, New York, has stated publicly that it receives no portion of the 3% convenience charge and that the fee is imposed entirely by Hamer Enterprises.4WHEC. Why Does Monroe County Charge a 3% Fee for Using a Credit Card to Pay Taxes
The amount varies by jurisdiction and payment method. Onondaga County, New York, charges $3.00 for credit card transactions up to $100 and 3% for anything above that.5Onondaga County. Payments Erie County, New York, uses a tiered flat schedule that runs from $1.00 on transactions under $2.00 up to $35.00 on transactions around $1,400.6Erie County. eNETPAY Service Fee Schedule The company’s contracts allow the fee schedule to change as bank and card network costs change.3Hidalgo County. Credit Card Processing Services Agreement, City of La Joya Under the portal’s terms, the applicable fee is disclosed before you submit the transaction.2eCitizen Portal. Terms of Service
Hamer’s portals serve counties and cities in multiple states, including Onondaga, Monroe, and Erie counties in New York and Travis, Webb, and the City of La Joya in Texas.7Travis County Tax Office. Property Tax FAQ So the charge could correspond to almost any state or local government payment you or a family member made online.
How To Confirm or Cancel the Charge
Call Hamer Enterprises at 1-800-926-3466 or go to hecorp.com. Customer support can tell you which government agency received the payment and confirm the amount, which is usually enough to jog your memory or a household member’s. To stop a recurring payment or auto-pay, log in to the eCitizen Portal where you enrolled, or call the same number.2eCitizen Portal. Terms of Service
Disputing an Unauthorized Charge
If no one in your household authorized the payment, the portal’s terms direct you to report the issue to your bank or card issuer within 60 days of the transaction appearing on your statement.2eCitizen Portal. Terms of Service The Fair Credit Billing Act protects you when you dispute a credit card charge in writing within 60 days of the billing statement. Your issuer must acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days. Federal law caps your liability for unauthorized credit card charges at $50.8Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
Before you dispute, it’s worth calling Hamer first to confirm what the charge was. If it turns out to be a legitimate tax or fine payment made by someone in your household, a chargeback can create problems with the government agency that hasn’t been paid.
How To Avoid the Fee Next Time
The convenience fee exists only to cover electronic processing costs, so most agencies offer fee-free ways to pay. Monroe County, for example, points taxpayers toward payment plans, ACH transfers, and electronic funds transfers as no-fee options.4WHEC. Why Does Monroe County Charge a 3% Fee for Using a Credit Card to Pay Taxes Paying in person by cash or check, or mailing a check to the agency, generally avoids the Hamer processing fee. The specific alternatives differ by agency, so check the local government’s website or call its office to see what’s available.