WHEELING, W.Va. — Vice mayor and city council member Chad Thalman believes the potential user fee in Wheeling is necessary to invest in public safety and infrastructure.
Wheeling City Council is mulling the $2 fee to help fund a $14.5 million public safety building as it held a public hearing on Tuesday evening for members of the community to speak out.
“Raising taxes or raising fees is never going to be a popular thing to do,” Thalman told MetroNews. “I think a lot of people recognize that we need to invest in public safety and we need to continue to invest in our infrastructure.”
Thalman said the $2 fee will be split in half with $1 going towards the construction of a public safety building which will be the new headquarters for Wheeling Police and Fire Departments, and $1 will go towards infrastructure including roads.
A $22 million property tax levy to fund the public safety building did not pass in the November election but Thalman said the investment in facilities and first responders will make Wheeling safer than it already is.
Thalman said those that voiced concern on Tuesday night mainly had questions and not opposition. He said citizens that work in Wheeling but live in Ohio and Pennsylvania had some confusion with the fee.
“More so questions than people that were actually saying ‘Hey we don’t want to invest in police and fire’ or ‘We don’t believe that you need investment in roads and infrastructure,'” Thalman said.
“It was more questions and it was more is it legal and has it been tested.”
Wheeling officials said the city’s proposal has been reviewed by the city’s bond counsel twice in the past year.
Wheeling is the largest city in West Virginia without a city user fee. Charleston, Huntington, Parkersburg, Morgantown, Weirton, and Fairmont all have user fees.
The tax is paid weekly and given to any full-time, part-time and self-employed workers who work in Wheeling for at least 30 days per year.
The user free could be voted on as early as council’s next meeting, which is scheduled for August 20.
As of right now, the fee is on the council’s agenda but Thalman did say that someone could make a motion to table it.
He believes the measure would pass, saying no one has firmly come out against it.
“There are seven of us on the city council and raising taxes and fees is never going to be popular. I would be surprised if it is a 7-to-0 vote. I do think it will pass but it’s a possibility it passes 4-to-3,” he said.
If passed, the city would still be looking for a location to build the public safety building.
Thalman said there is interest in one downtown location but the city received a price tag of over $500,000 which was more than 10 times the most recent appraised value.
The user fee would take effect on January 1, 2020, where businesses would be responsible for taking $2 a week from paychecks from everyone working the city.
A sunset clause had been placed in the ordinance which could make the user fee go away after the debt of the public safety building is paid off.
Thalman estimates that would be 25 years down the road, in which that current city council would vote on continuing the fee.