Craig Howell FINAL DISCUSSIONS – Members of Weirton Council met in a work session Wednesday to discuss whether there would be any additional amendments to a proposed update of the city’s Municipal Service Fee. The ordinance is set for a final reading Monday, with a public hearing scheduled at 6:30 p.m., and the regular city council meeting at 7 p.m.

WEIRTON – Weirton Council is scheduled to hold the final reading of an ordinance updating the city’s Municipal Service Fee, and it doesn’t appear as if there are plans to make any more amendments.

Council will hold a public hearing on the ordinance – which would increase the fee from its current assessment of $2 per week for anyone working within the city limits, to $5 per week – at 6:30 p.m. Monday, prior to its regular meeting at 7 p.m. where the ordinance will be up for a second reading.

Before that, though, officials met Wednesday in a work session to review the ordinance as it currently is proposed, and make sure there were no other plans for any changes.

“I think we need an opportunity to get on the same page before Monday,” Ward 4 Councilman Rick Stead said.

One amendment was offered previously to the ordinance, in an effort to make sure an individual working more than one job in the city is only assessed the fee one time. That amendment, offered by Ward 1 Councilman Tim Connell in March, resulted in the need for an additional reading before the ordinance can be effective.

Mayor Dean Harris noted any additional amendments would cause the process to go back a couple of steps, while also warning there could be issues if too many changes would be made.

“If we’re going to continue to amend this thing, you might as well rescind the original ordinance and write an all new ordinance,” Harris said.

The original Municipal Service Fee was enacted in 2004 under the administration of William Miller, to assess $2 per week from the pay of anyone working in Weirton. The ordinance allows those funds to be used for “public works, street department functions, street maintenance, capital projects, and public health and safety.” At the time, officials declared the intended use was to provide funding for street paving. The declared intent of the fee increase by the current administration is to provide funding for the hiring of six additional firefighters, which, then, would provide more fire protection in the city and assist in the planned reopening of the County Road Fire Station.

Harris, along with Fire Chief Kevin Himmelrick, also noted any additional delays would mean it will take longer for the city to hire the six new firefighters.

“We’re starting to run out on the list we have anyhow,” Himmelrick said, explaining they most likely will have to go through a new recruitment and testing cycle in order to fill the positions.

While some previous discussion has raised the possibility of increasing the fee to $4 per week, instead of $5, council members Wednesday seemed to indicate that would not be seen an option, with some indicating the additional revenue would help in the event of increased costs or the need of other expenditures in the future.

“You want to be in a position where you have a cushion,” Stead said, pointing to the potential of the city needing to kick in funding to provide for Prevention Resource Officers beginning with the 2027-28 school year. “You may need some funding there.”

Ward 6 Councilman Anthony Rocchio raised a concern about people who are considered as low-wage earners, citing an example of those who are clients of the Hancock County Sheltered Workshop, and the increased impact of a higher fee on their pay.

City Attorney Vince Gurrera, though, explained there would be other issues if the city made exceptions for certain groups.

“If you make it different, then it’s a tax,” he said.

West Virginia’s municipalities have limited authority in the kind of taxes they can enact.

Connell explained he had looked at the city’s budget to see if there was any funding to be freed up to assist with the costs, and couldn’t find anything.

“It seemed everywhere I looked, it was tied up,” Connell said, indicating new revenue would be needed for any type of expansion of services.

Funds derived from the Municipal Service Fee would go into the city’s General Fund, with council then responsible for allocating those revenues.

(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com)