Meg Holland & Associates, PC, CPA

Using credit cards to pay city fees and taxes will cost residents, but officials say it's worth it.

Bethlehem residents can begin paying their city taxes and permit fees with their credit and debit cards. And within the next month, water and sewer bills can be paid that way as well. But that convenience is going to cost you. There are no costs to the city, but residents will have to pay a fee equal to 2.45 percent of the amount. The minimum fee is $1.50. That comes to about $17.27 for every $50,000 worth of assessed property value. However, if you use a Visa debit/check card -- not the credit card -- it's a flat $3.95 fee, no matter what the amount. Visa credit cards assess the 2.45 percent fee. Both the Visa credit and debit cards can only be used for tax payments. Visa does not allow the card to be used for recreational passes and permit fees yet, city officials said. Other cards, like MasterCard and Discover, can be used for all three.

At a joint news conference, Mayor John Callahan and Controller Meg Holland said the new payment methods would give customers who like to carry less cash more options and the money would clear more quickly into city bank accounts. The plastic payments right now can only be accepted over the counter, but eventually the city will make the option available online.

If you spend enough time in Bethlehem City Hall, you can’t help but notice the artwork. Painted portraits of past mayors, landscapes of sister cities and sculptures of every shape, size and medium line the hallways and office walls. More art is stored in the attic of City Hall, known to employees as the “Penthouse.” Last summer, city controller Meg Holland was cleaning her new office when “Storm At Sea,” a watercolor by Stanley Woodward, caught her attention. An internet search showed some Woodward works sold for about $14,000, and Holland wondered about the value of other city art.

Beverly Hoover, a Bethlehem resident and member of the city Fine Arts Commission who has a master’s degree in art history and experience working at museums, volunteered to catalog the city’s art. The project took more then 200 hours. While Hoover said she is not an appraiser, the collection of more then 100 work in City Hall and 20 in the library, as well as park sculptures, has been insured for $1.5 million. Hoover researched the history of each piece, identified 65 known and 15 unknown artists and dated the works. An exhibit of selected pieces will be on display to the end of June at Town Hall.