(a)(1) The use of credit cards for any payments made to a Houston County department, agency, board, or commission may be authorized upon approval by the Houston County Commission as provided in subsection (b), and if authorized, shall be accepted pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the Houston County Commission. The rules and regulations shall include specific procedures for the acceptance of credit card payments, including, but not limited to, provision for the payment of any discount or administrative fee charged by the credit card issuer. The Houston County Commission may impose the assessment of a surcharge or convenience fee from the person paying by credit card in an amount not greater than the transaction fee charged by the credit card issuer.

(2) Except as otherwise provided, this section shall be construed to allow acceptance of credit card payments of any types of amounts payable to Houston County as authorized by the Houston County Commission, including, but not limited to, taxes, license and registration fees, fines, and penalties. For purposes of this section, the term credit card shall be as defined in subdivision (4) of Section 5-20-3, and shall include credit cards, charge cards, and debit cards.

(b) The Houston County Commission may enter into appropriate agreements with one or more credit card issuers or other appropriate parties as needed to facilitate the acceptance of credit card payments, provided that no agreement may provide for the receipt of payments at a discount from the amount that would be owed were credit cards not accepted or the payment or withholding of administrative fees from the actual amount of the payments. Any agreement shall provide that it may be canceled without penalty at any time by the Houston County Commission upon reasonable notice. No agreement shall exceed three years as provided in Section 41-16-27.

(c)(1) When a party elects to make a payment to a Houston County agency, office, department, board, or commission by credit card and a surcharge or convenience fee is imposed, the payment of the surcharge or convenience fee shall not be refundable.

(2) No person making payment to any Houston County agency, office, department, board, or commission by credit card shall be relieved from liability for the face amount of the payment except to the extent that the agency, office, department, board, or commission realizes final payment of the underlying obligation in cash or the equivalent. If final payment is not made by the credit card issuer or other guarantor of payment in the credit card transaction, the underlying obligation shall survive and the agency, office, department, board, or commission shall retain all remedies for enforcement which would have applied if the credit card transaction had not occurred. No contract may modify this subsection.

(3) A Houston County agency, office, department, board, or commission officer or employee who accepts a credit card payment in accordance with this section and any applicable polices, rules, or regulations of the Houston County Commission shall not thereby incur any personal liability for the final collection of such payments.