Fee Payments

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Notification of Payment Transaction Fee Change - July 1

Effective July 1, 2026, all credit/debit card and e-check (bank account/ACH) payments for Building, Planning, Public Works, and Fire are subject to transaction fees as outlined below.  Payment transaction fees are paid directly to a payment processing vendor, not the City of Santa Clara, and are non-refundable.

Pay your fees online or in-person to the City’s Building, Planning, Fire, and Public Works departments at your convenience. Keep in mind that payment steps and requirements may vary slightly by department or division. If you still have questions after reviewing the information below, please check with the department that issued your invoice for specific instructions.

For current fees, rates, or charges, refer to the Municipal Fee Schedule (PDF). If you are looking for fees for Building Simple Permits, refer to Frequently Assessed Fees for Minor Residential Permits (PDF).

Pay Online by Credit/Debit Card or e-Check/ACH

Log in to the Permitting Online Portal.
From the Home screen, click the Pay Fees icon.
Your permits will display by department.
Find the permit for which you're paying fees and click the Pay Fees Due link.
Review your fees and click Continue Application.
Complete the billing and payment information on the next screen.
Click Continue. A confirmation screen will appear.
Click Print/View Receipt to print a hard copy of your receipt.

Transaction Fees and Limits

Credit/Debit Card fee: 2.65% of total transaction amount
- Minimum transaction amount: $5.00
- Maximum transaction amount: $100,000.00

E-check fee: $1.00 per transaction
- Minimum transaction amount: $5.00
- Maximum transaction amount: $500,000.00

Payment transaction fees are paid directly to a payment processing vendor, not the City of Santa Clara, and are non-refundable.

Pay In Person by Credit/Debit Card, Check, or Cash

For Building, Planning, or Public Works payments, visit our Permit Center at 1500 Warburton Avenue during office hours.

For Fire payments, visit the Community Risk Reduction Division at 1675 Lincoln Street. Check the Santa Clara Fire Department page for office hours.

Making a payment in person. Where to pay and where to use each payment method. Building accepts cash, credit/debit cards, and checks. Planning accepts credit/debit cards and checks. Fire accepts checks.

Note: Credit/debit card transaction fees and limits are as follows:

Credit/Debit Card fee: 2.65% of total transaction amount
- Minimum transaction amount: $5.00
- Maximum transaction amount: $100,000.00

Payment transaction fees are paid directly to a payment processing vendor, not the City of Santa Clara, and are non-refundable.

If paying by check for Building fees, please make checks out to the City of Santa Clara – Permit Center. Make sure to include your record number and project address in the check's reference section.

Pay by Wire Transfer

Contact the department that invoiced the fees for your record before initiating a wire transfer. Verify the department contact information on the City website. You must provide the permit number in your payment request. Wire transfers sent without reaching out to the department will be rejected.

Note: Fees of $100,000 or more must be paid by e-check (ACH), check, or wire transfer. Fees of $500,000 or more must be paid by check or wire transfer.

Pay by Mailed Check

Make sure to include your record number and project address in the check's reference section so payment is properly routed. Mail checks using the following instructions:

For Building fees, make checks out to the City of Santa Clara–Permit Center.

ATTN: Permit Center
City of Santa Clara
1500 Warburton Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95050

For Planning fees, make checks out to the City of Santa Clara.

ATTN: Planning Division
City of Santa Clara
1500 Warburton Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95050

For Public Works, make checks out to City of Santa Clara.

ATTN: DPW, LPD
City of Santa Clara
1500 Warburton Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95050

For Fire, make checks out to City of Santa Clara–Fire–CRRD.

ATTN: Fire–CRRD
City of Santa Clara
1675 Lincoln Street
Santa Clara, CA 95050

For Business Customers Paying by E-Check/ACH

E-check or Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments are electronic transfers from one bank account into another to collect funds or to pay expenses. An ACH Debit Block — typically used for corporate bank accounts as a fraud prevention tool — prevents funds from being withdrawn from an account unless they are specifically authorized.

An ACH Company ID is a 10-digit identifier used by banks and NACHA (operator of the ACH network), to identify the vendor collecting payments via ACH.

For corporate bank accounts with ACH debit blocks in place, reach out to your financial institution to request that the Paymentus ACH Company ID: 0000408976 be added to your account’s ACH debit block filter before making your first payment. This will help ensure successful processing of your e-check/ACH payments to the City of Santa Clara.

Paymentus is the third-party payment processor, hosted by JPMorgan Chase, for the City of Santa Clara. Payment transaction fees are paid directly to the payment processor, not the City of Santa Clara, and are non-refundable.

If your payment is returned as “Not Authorized,” check your ACH debit block filter with your financial institution before re-initiating the payment.

For questions or assistance, please contact our Finance Department at finance@santaclaraca.gov.

Additional Resources

Permitting Online Portal FAQs - Payments

Last Updated:

07-01-2026