As of January first, all employs working within Morgantown city limits will see a three dollar per week fee automatically deducted from their income to pay the new city user service fee. This fee, costing each worker over $150 a year, is designed to pay for upgrades and upkeep to city roads and to finance Morgantown City Police. The city is charging this tax to those who work within city limits as a way to target those who are most likely to use the roads and police.
Conservative city estimates project that the user fee will raise $4.5 million annually (“Safe Streets & Safe Community Service Fee Info), but the number is likely much higher when part-time student employees are considered. This fee unfairly pushes the burden of paying for city …show more content…
Anyone who has attempted the winding roads of Morgantown can appreciate the desperate need for resurfacing so many of these roads require. And with the latest winter storm, Jonas, we all can appreciate the value of salt and efficient plowing. With close to 2.5 million dollars a year set to go to street improvement and maintenance hopefully Morgantown can improve travel on their infamous roads.
We are not the only city in West Virginia to enact fees to pay for roads. Charleston has had a $1.50 user fee since 2003 with plans to increase the fee to three dollars by 2020. Huntington also maintains a city user fee of two dollars a week. Though the fee itself is not uncommon, circumstances unique to Morgantown make it particularly unfair and ineffective at raising funds from those who use city …show more content…
If the city must obtain the user fee through the income of individuals working in the city, a small tax would be much more fair than a flat fee. No longer would you have some people paying ten percent of their income to the fee like RAs while Professors and Administrators barely notice the three-dollar fee. At the very least they could implement a student exemption so students who are trying to work their way through college would not lose this small, but significant, fee. Another possible alternative to the fee is a very small sales tax. This tax would ensure that all who pay the fee are using the city service and would equate to a more fairly distribute cost as those who earn and consume the most would pay the highest fee.
Whatever the alternative, the Morgantown city service user fee needs to be replaced. In its current form it unfairly charges those who do not use the services it pays for. Solutions do exist, but it will be up to the city council and student government to implement a plan so the streets and police can get the funding they need without having WVU students unfairly foot the
Conservative city estimates project that the user fee will raise $4.5 million annually (“Safe Streets & Safe Community Service Fee Info), but the number is likely much higher when part-time student employees are considered. This fee unfairly pushes the burden of paying for city …show more content…
Anyone who has attempted the winding roads of Morgantown can appreciate the desperate need for resurfacing so many of these roads require. And with the latest winter storm, Jonas, we all can appreciate the value of salt and efficient plowing. With close to 2.5 million dollars a year set to go to street improvement and maintenance hopefully Morgantown can improve travel on their infamous roads.
We are not the only city in West Virginia to enact fees to pay for roads. Charleston has had a $1.50 user fee since 2003 with plans to increase the fee to three dollars by 2020. Huntington also maintains a city user fee of two dollars a week. Though the fee itself is not uncommon, circumstances unique to Morgantown make it particularly unfair and ineffective at raising funds from those who use city …show more content…
If the city must obtain the user fee through the income of individuals working in the city, a small tax would be much more fair than a flat fee. No longer would you have some people paying ten percent of their income to the fee like RAs while Professors and Administrators barely notice the three-dollar fee. At the very least they could implement a student exemption so students who are trying to work their way through college would not lose this small, but significant, fee. Another possible alternative to the fee is a very small sales tax. This tax would ensure that all who pay the fee are using the city service and would equate to a more fairly distribute cost as those who earn and consume the most would pay the highest fee.
Whatever the alternative, the Morgantown city service user fee needs to be replaced. In its current form it unfairly charges those who do not use the services it pays for. Solutions do exist, but it will be up to the city council and student government to implement a plan so the streets and police can get the funding they need without having WVU students unfairly foot the