Kings County no longer providing pennies. What are other counties doing?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kings County stops providing pennies for change starting March 1.
- Fresno still uses pennies; Tulare is preparing for shortages and may round.
- SB 1005 would let counties round cash payments or refunds to the nearest $0.05.
Kings County will no longer provide pennies effective March 1, county officials said.
The Kings County Tax Collector, Community Development Agency, Public Works and Kings County Probation are county departments that will no longer provide pennies while making change for cash transactions, according to Matthew Boyett, Kings County public information officer.
The news comes after the United States Mint officially stopped production of new one-cent coins on Nov. 12. 2025. The Federal Reserve is no longer distributing pennies to financial institutions making the supply of the one-cent coin a nationwide reality, with banks dealing only in pennies already in circulation.
Boyett said the county’s local bank is no longer supplying pennies to the county.
Current property tax bills will require an exact change for cash payment, according to Boyett. However, online, telephone, check, debit/credit card, and money order payments are still available and will not be affected by this change.
The county “will still accept pennies if a person uses them in a cash transaction. We just won’t be providing pennies while making change for cash transactions,” Boyett said.
Neighboring Fresno County is still using pennies for cash transactions, said Sonja Dosti, Fresno County communications director.
“At the state capitol, SB 1005 has been introduced to round to the nickel on the tax collection side,” Dosti said. “In the meantime, the plan is to continue using the penny to provide accurate change.”
The proposed legislation will allow California counties to round to the nearest nickel in the future.
California Senate Bill 1005 (SB 1005), introduced by Senator Anna Caballero on Feb. 9, for the 2025–2026 session, proposes allowing local agencies to round up cash payments or refunds to the nearest $0.05.
While Tulare County still uses pennies for cash transactions, the county is adjusting in anticipation of a penny shortage.
In a public memo to all county departments dated Dec. 8, 2025, Tulare County’s auditor-controller/treasurer-tax collector Cass Cook said his office had been notified by “banking partners that they are unable to fulfill our orders for pennies.”
Cook said because of the “extremely limited” supply , the county can no longer reliably obtain pennies for departmental cash needs, which could have an impact on county operations including departments that handle cash transactions that accept payment requiring coin change.
Some of the recommendations by the tax-collectors office includes incorporating rounding practices where appropriate and legally permissible; evaluating pricing adjustment to reduce reliance on pennies, increase use of electronic payments where possible to minimize the need for coin change, notify the public of any changes to cash-handling procedures, etc.
