A lawsuit challenging the National Park Service's move to eliminate cash in visitor transactions should be dismissed because the plaintiffs have failed to prove they have been harmed by the policy and because federal regulations don't require the agency to accept cash for its services, according to the federal government.
In the lawsuit filed back in May the plaintiffs said the policy is unreasonable and an abuse of discretion and that federal law states that legal tender is suitable "for all public charges."
Esther van der Werf of Ojai, California, Toby Stover, of High Falls, New York, and Elizabeth Dasburg, of Darien, Georgia, brought the lawsuit after being told their U.S. currency would not be accepted for entry into Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Tonto National Monument, Saguaro National Park, Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Site, and Fort Pulaski National Monument.
"NPS’s violation of federal law cannot be overlooked in favor of any purported benefit NPS cashless could hope to achieve, such as reducing logistics of handling cash collected," reads a section of the lawsuit. "Moreover, there is an increased cost to the NPS in going cashless, such as additional processing fees that will be borne by NPS and by visitors who ultimately fund the federal government through taxes, in addition to personal surcharges and bank fees visitors may incur under NPS cashless policy."
In its response [attached below], filed in July, the government said the lawsuit should be dismissed because the plaintiffs "lack standing to challenge the alleged cashless entry program because they have not pled that they personally lack the ability to pay the entrance fee using accepted non-cash methods. Their alleged injury —in fact their failure to enter certain national parks on the few occasions identified in the Complaint—is based only on principle, a belief that they have a 'lawful right' to pay in cash."
Furthermore, the government said "there is simply no legal support for the idea that" the Park Service, or any other federal agency, has to accept cash for transactions, although there is a provision stating that cash may be accepted to pay debts.
"The payment of an entrance fee to access a national park is not a debt under any definition of that term. Instead, it is a contemporaneous payment for a good or service," the government pointed out.
As of last week the judge in the case had yet to rule on the motions.
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Comments
Absolutely crazy
I can only hope this corrupt period of the NPS will come to an end at some point.
the idea that legal tender is somehow not accepted at a government agency that produces and insures such legal tender is quite frankly absurd.
the privatization of the parks has led to this and it is once again a reminder why recreation gov is and was a grave mistake and a uneeded burdon upon the people to access OUR land.
Lets hope this "judge" has the nerve to actually do what is right
An important lawsuit which appears to be on the precipice of failing. Please continue to keep us informed.
Big Tech moguls and major financial execs have switched to supporting Trump b/c of the Democrats' stated intent of severely limiting virtual currency and recent practice of censoring free speech. Knocking out cash is part of the trend to maintain complete monitoring ability of finances. In China, the government maintains a credit score system that controls the citizenry's ability to travel and conduct business. We cannot allow such here. Cash and virtual currency are largely uncontrolled and need to remain in regular use.
Cash-less fees should be in addition to cash not instead of cash. I understand the processing fee is approximately 3% per transaction. Friday night in New York there were long lines at several check cashing locations for lower income workers without or with liimted bank accounts or credit cards. Perhaps some might visit NPS sites that charge fees. Common sense please along with common courtesy.
You can't help but notice the cash donation boxes in visitor centers in many if not most cashless NPS locales.
Those are also going away, as the rules for cash handling tighten up. Cash donation boxes now require the same security systems as entrance stations, and anyone handling the money needs a fee background investigation. It is not cost effective to spend 10s of thousands of dollars on security cameras for a cash box that brings in $500 a year, not to mention the added personnel costs. The push for cashless is making the parks spend millions to eliminate the possibility of employees stealing hundreds.