MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With one more majority vote a city user fee could be enacted by the first of the year.
Morgantown City Council, in a 4-2 decision, sent the proposed $3.00 weekly fee on workers within city limits to a second reading.
(Councilors Bill Kawecki, Jenny Selin, Nancy Ganz, Marti Shamberger in favor) (Councilors Wes Nugent and Jay Redmond opposed) (Councilman Ron Bane was not in attendance)
“We’ll hope to be able to start implementing portions of the plan next year after the first quarter. Really, the big implementation would be later next year,” said City Manager Jeff Mikorski Tuesday following the regular council meeting.
Implementation would be contingent upon the majority council approving the measure on an upcoming final reading.
Both Wes Nugent and Jay Redmond who voted against the proposed ordinance indicated they aren’t opposed to some kind of user fee to generate revenue, but they would prefer to see more specific numbers on how the collections would be spent.
A predicted $4.6 million could be collected in a year from the formally named Safe Street and Safe Community Service Fee Plan.
That number is based on annual $156 collections from the 30,000 people recent census statistics revealed work in Morgantown
The ordinance under consideration would distribute the fees as follows:
Street Resurfacing and Improvement
35-45% or $1,638,000 – $2,106,000
Public Works Personnel
07-10% or $ 327,600 – $ 468,000
Street Maintenance Equipment
07-10% or $ 327,600 – $ 468,000
Police Protection Personnel/Retention
25-30% or $1,170,000 -$1,404,000
Police Equipment
06-10% or $ 280,800 – $ 468,000
Mikorski advised it would take collections from one quarter of the year to better estimate annual revenue from a user fee.
“It won’t be done immediately, but we hope to use it as a tool and keep it in front of the residents showing them how the estimates are being implemented and the timelines.”
Council reiterated Tuesday that the city website would be updated on incoming revenue and expenditures to maintain transparency should a user fee pass..
“There’s no way that administration can then start moving moneys around. It’s dedicated.,” Mikorski explained. “The ordinance says it’s dedicated right now to those two goals, police protection and street improvement, and that’s where we’ll be dedicating
the amount of money.”
The version of the Safe Street and Safe Community Service Fee Plan council considered Tuesday did not include language including WVU students to be classified as “users”.
But, an estimated 70 percent of WVU students work either for the university or at jobs in the city, according to council discussion.
Mikorski maintained that legally, to avoid discrimination, students of any city schools, technical or college institution, should not be singled out in a user fee ordinance. City worker is the broadest classification.
Long term, city administrators would like to see enough revenue to hire 5 public works employees and 8 to 12 more city police officers.
The city has already posted frequently asked questions and answers regarding a user fee ordinance on its website. A
link to them can be found by clicking here.