Bill would resolve penny conundrum in Wyoming after feds stop making cents

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A Wyoming lawmaker is proposing a uniform method to round cash payments as the disappearing penny begins to create a coinage conundrum at the cash register.

Rep. Mike Yin’s bill “would set clear rules” for rounding cash transactions — half up and half down — when exact change is unavailable. The genesis of the Teton County Democrat’s measure is the government’s decision to cease minting the lowly coin, which costs nearly four times as much to produce than it is worth.

As the penny becomes scarce, businesses and shoppers could receive different treatment at different stores, Yin said.

“We should deal with how transactions work without the penny,” he said. The rounding policy has been used successfully in other places — like Canada — where the penny has gone the way of the Brits’ ha’penny.

House Bill 71, “No more pennies-rounding cash payments,” would establish rules. Businesses would post a sign outlining the rounding method. When exact change is not available for a cash payment, a total that includes taxes would be rounded to the nearest nickel.

“Both the merchant and consumer break even — it’s a fair transaction,” Yin said.

The measure would not apply to credit and debit card payments, checks or sales paid in exact change.

“Having the same penny policy between the local shop in Thermopolis and one in Sheridan is good for both the small businesses and the residents,” Yin said in a statement. “No one has to guess what to do.”

How it would work

Here is how the rounding would work: If a person makes a cash payment and the seller cannot make exact change because of a lack of pennies, the sales total, including taxes, would be rounded to the nearest nickel.

“If the final amount of the sale ends in one cent, two cents, six cents or seven cents, the amount of the sale shall be rounded down to the nearest five cents,” the bill reads.

“If the final amount of the sale ends in three cents, four cents, eight cents or nine cents, the final amount of the sale shall be rounded up to the nearest five cents.”

For items that cost one or two cents, if no change is available, you’ll pay a nickel.

The bill does not affect the amount of tax collected.

Meetings with business folk caused Yin to draft the bill. “I think people are generally supportive,” he said.

There are some potential problems. County treasurers told him some residents still pay their taxes in cash. But governments can’t shuck a penny here, another there.

So treasurers are stocking up, Yin said.

“They’re hoarding pennies,” he said. “They want to make sure they have them.

“I think everyone is trying to figure what to do when they run out.”

Legal requirements of local governments — and courts, too — could require some tweaking of the bill, Yin said.

One restaurant manager, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on the topic, questioned whether the penny shortage was imminent. He foresaw a challenge for the measure, nevertheless. There could be discrepancies between a register’s tally and the amount of cash in the till.

“You generally want to have your numbers matching up,” the manager told WyoFile.

Yin said he’s confident point-of-sale accounting systems can be configured appropriately.

“If they’ve been designed to work in Canada,” he said, “we should be able to handle this as well.”

Approximately 114 billion pennies remain in circulation, “but shortages have popped up as the Federal Reserve cut back on penny handling,” Yin stated. Wyoming would be among the first states to put the rounding concept into law, he said.

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