HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Part of Huntington’s city user fee passed last month will be used for updated police equipment and vehicles.
The city’s Finance Committee held a meeting Tuesday night to discuss what the fee would be used for. Road maintenance and police funding are the two main concerns of the city. Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli described the costs of a new police vehicle.
“The vehicle itself on state bid is roughly $25,000, and then an additional 10 to 12 (thousand) for the emergency equipment, camera, computer, prison compartment; those sorts of things,” Ciccarelli told the committee.
Ciccarelli was concerned that the car would be bought on credit, meaning that payments would have to be made in the future.
“That revenue stream from the user fee is constant, relatively speaking,” he said. “The other parts of our budget; my only concern would be we hit a financial glitch somewhere down the road and we still owe that payment.”
After Ciccarelli made an appearance, various discussions took place for different road projects that Huntington would pay for with revenue from the fee.
Last month, city council voted to raise the user fee from $3 to $5 a week. It’s expected to generate up to $3 million a year.