Frustrated visitors sue National Park Service over cashless policies (You won't believe the reason why)

SFGate ^ | 03/19/2024 | By Sam Mauhay-Moore

[Responsibility2nd]

Three people sued the National Park Service earlier this month for its policy not to accept cash payments at a growing number of locations.

Esther van der Werf of Ojai, California, Toby Stover of High Falls, New York, and Elizabeth Dasburg of Darien, Georgia, filed their lawsuit on March 6 after being prevented from paying in cash at various national parks, monuments and historic sites around the country. Citing a U.S. code that states U.S. currency is legal tender for all public charges, the lawsuit alleges that the park service’s cashless policy is in violation of federal law.

The park service instituted cashless policies at approximately 29 locations, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs said cash payments were refused at sites in Arizona, New York and Georgia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Park Service instituted cashless policies at a number of its locations in 2023, including California’s Death Valley National Park. In one news release regarding the cashless policy at Death Valley, the park service said that the $22,000 in cash collected by the park during the previous year took more than $40,000 to process. 

“Cash handling costs include an armored car contract to transport cash and park rangers’ time counting money and processing paperwork,” the Park Service wrote in the news release. “The transition to cashless payments will allow the NPS to redirect the $40,000 previously spent processing cash to directly benefit park visitors.”

[sergeantdave]

Sen. Cruz Introduces Legislation to Ban Central Bank Digital Currencies
https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-introduces-legislation-to-ban-central-bank-digital-currencies

Emmer’s CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act Passes Financial Services Committee
https://emmer.house.gov/2023/9/emmer-s-cbdc-anti-surveillance-state-act-passes-financial-services-committee

CBDC Legislation Recap
https://www.cato.org/blog/cbdc-legislation-recap

[Dave W]

I get that. A mom and pop store is different from a formal corporate like entity that needs to answer to a board of directors or the taxpayers.

When cash is involved, you need a set of internal controls to safeguard the cash. It is merely not trusting the employees, it is also protecting them from false accusations.