MORGANTOWN – The House Political Subdivisions Committee once again passed a bill to end municipal user fees collected from all people who work inside municipal boundaries.
User fees can be used for a variety of services but Susan Economou, with the Municipal League said at Monday’s meeting that most use if for to pay for police and fire services and street maintenance.
This year’s bill is HB 2324. It says, “no fee shall be charged or assessed against a person solely because that person is employed within the jurisdiction of the municipality.”
Ten cities have levied fees: Morgantown, Fairmont, Charleston, Huntington, Romney, Parkersburg, Wheeling, Weirton, Chester and Montgomery. But Delegate Geoff Foster, R-Putnam, said Parkersburg hasn’t collected a fee for several years.
Economou said she didn’t have figures for each city, but they collect a combined $30 million per year.
Delegates Evan Hansen and John Williams, both D-Monongalia, said Morgantown brings in about $3 million a year through its $3 weekly fee to pay for police services and street maintenance; about $1.8 million goes to police and pays for 10 officers.
Those who favored the bill said it’s fundamentally unfair because non-residents must pay the fee but can’t vote on it. A city can choose to lay off a police officer or just not plant a few trees. Morgantown has a $4 million to $5 million budget carryover and doesn’t really need it.
Opponents said that non-residents who work in the city use city streets and police and fire protection. Funding sources are limited: business & occupation taxes are unpopular and considered antiquated, the only other option is a 1% sales tax.
Foster and Hansen teamed to offer a successful amendment to the bill that provides if it becomes law, cities that devote the fees to bond debt may pay off the bonds before the fees expire.
During debate on the bill, Williams said, “I’m almost at a loss for words. … The gumption that it takes, in my mind, to tell cities how they can and cannot pay for services … is just the beyond pale for me.” The cities know what they need to provide their essential services. “I don’t get how this is not defunding the police.”
Delegate John Kelly, R-Wood, said he spent 14 years in city government and he knows cities struggle to balance budgets. They came down to the Capitol and lobbied for the privilege to levy these fees, and elected city councils voted to put them in place.
“This is a bad bill. This is a bill that pulls the rug out from under our cities,” he said.
Delegate Ric Griffith, D-Wayne, said that instead of passing this bill, the Legislature should return the money to residents as a tax deduction.
Foster said city budgets have shot up faster than the Consumer Price Index. Cities should change their user fee to a residential fee. The bill is pro-worker and puts money back in their pockets.
Delegate Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer, said the other 220 municipalities in the state manage to pay their bills and provide services without a fee, and the fees are fundamentally unfair. They’re low-hanging so cities don’t have to find creative ways to raise money.
Delegate Margitta Mazzocchi, R-Logan, complained that she has to pay the Charleston fee all year because she comes to the Capitol for a few weeks as a delegate.
The bill passed in a voice vote and goes to Judiciary. Last year’s bill, HB 2256, went from Political Subdivisions to Finance, where it died.
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