MORGANTOWN – If Morgantown’s $3 Safe Streets & Safe Community Fee – often referred to as a user fee or service fee – had been adjusted for inflation since its Jan. 1, 2016 enactment, the weekly fee paid by individuals working within city limits would be $4.11 today.
During a recent workshop on fiscal sustainability, Morgantown City Councilor Mark Downs said he’s been working with the city’s legal council on legislation to amend Article 745 of city code so that the service fee catches up, and keeps up, with inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers, or CPI-U.
Downs noted that the revenue generated by the fee, anticipated to be approximately $4.12 million for the upcoming fiscal year, has about 36% less purchasing power for its stated uses – maintaining city streets and providing police protection – than it did when it was implemented a decade ago.
Had the fee been adjusted annually for inflation, the city would be anticipating service fee revenues closer to $5.4 million in FY 2027, according to numbers stated by Downs.
“The previous council way back when took a big leap and moved this forward with the public because they all bought into supporting our infrastructure and providing a level of service associated with this that this fee justifies,” Downs said. “I think it’s our responsibility to ensure that the fee stays at a level where we can provide that same level of service. Otherwise, it just erodes confidence in us and our ability to deliver.”
While attorney Ryan Simonton said Downs’ draft legislation also included some consideration of potential changes for who is subject to the fee – for example, contemplating whether people who both live and work downtown should pay – councilor Jenny Selin said she believes those kinds of changes would muddy the water.
Currently, everyone who works within city limits has the fee collected from their paychecks, regardless of where they live.
“Our main problem is there’s so few ways that cities can generate funds that even though this is not our favorite way, it is a way to diversify and it is a way to generate funds. And so, if we indexed it [for inflation], which makes every bit of good sense, and just left it alone, that would be the simplest even though we all might prefer to look at it from an income standpoint, which we can’t do,” Selin said.
Mayor Danielle Trumble agreed that exempting certain people from the fee would likely complicate the issue, prompting others – public transit users, for example – to question why they’re being forced to pay when others aren’t.
Trumble also explained that her concerns stretch beyond city boundaries, noting, “This is already a highly unpopular fee as it stands.”
“I’m also concerned that as soon as we say we’re increasing the fee in any way, the legislature is going to take it away, because they have already tried that a few times. It’s been introduced in a couple of legislative sessions recently that, you know, ‘We shouldn’t have to pay user fees if we don’t live in the city,’” Trumble said. “So, I personally have a lot of concerns that I would need to do some research on and try to look into further before moving anything forward.”
The services supported by the fee include providing equipment for the city’s police and public works personnel, as well as funds dedicated for paving, resurfacing, cleaning, maintenance and winter treatment of public streets, medians and sidewalks. According to the city’s website, the breakdown of the $3 weekly fee is $1.77 for streets and public works, and $1.23 for the MPD.
Councilor Jodi Hollingshead said that if council moves forward with bringing the fee in line with inflation, she would also like to take another look at how those funds are dispersed.
“I would like to look into reallocating the funds. If we are increasing this unpopular fee, I would like to see the amount going to police go down and the amount going to streets and public works go up,” she said.
Asked if the city is limited in how much it can raise the fee, Simonton explained, “The amounts generated have to be reasonable in proportion to the cost of the service provided. It just depends on what the fee is allocated toward, but it would have to be established in relation to the cost of providing police services and the cost of maintaining the public rights of way currently.”
Downs said he believes adjusting the charge based on the consumer price index is both reasonable and necessary.
“We’ve got 36% less funding to pay for our roads than we had 10 years ago, right? Nobody likes higher fees. That’s the last thing I want to do, but at the same time, we’re a premier city in West Virginia with a premier university,” he said.
Speaking of WVU, it was noted during the conversation that while WVU does collect the municipal fee from its employees, it’s under no obligation to do so.
“I think the city can require the employees to pay the fees as users of the service, but the collection mechanism for all of these types of fees is employer withholding for anybody who’s an employee, and state agencies can’t be compelled by the municipalities to do that withholding,” Simonton said. “WVU voluntarily does it. State agencies voluntarily do it in Charleston.”
Morgantown is one of a number of cities in West Virginia with a service fee in place. Some others include Wheeling ($2/week); Parkersburg ($2.50); Charleston ($3) and Huntington ($5).
As the issue was taken up under council’s new workshop format for its monthly committee of the whole meetings, no official action was taken. Under that revised format, it will presumably be back for a public input session as part of the April 28 workshop.
