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By ALEX MEYER
Staff Writer
WHEELING -- After seeing voters in November reject a proposed property tax levy to fund a new public safety building downtown, city officials are now considering a new plan to enact a user fee to fund the building's construction.
The user fee being discussed by officials would tax those who work in Wheeling and go toward a proposed $22 million project to consolidate the city's police and fire departments in one building on Market Street.
In November, about 54 percent of city voters gave their approval for the tax levy, short of the needed 60 percent for passage.
"Nobody wants to place additional burdens on the taxpayers. We also don't want to continue to place additional burdens on our first responders or our public safety system," Vice Mayor Chad Thalman said. "It's a balancing act we are doing our best to navigate."
City leaders are preparing to have a discussion at city council on whether a user fee is the best approach, Mayor Glenn Elliott said. In considering the fee, the city has reached out to employers whose employees would feel a financial burden, Elliott said.
Though the city has received mixed feedback on the fee, he said, people he's talked to generally support having a new public safety building. Both Elliott and Thalman noted that a majority of voters were in favor of the building through the public safety levy on November's ballot despite its failure.
"With nearly 54 percent of city residents voting for the levy, I feel that it is our obligation to consider other approaches to fund the project," Elliott said.
Currently, the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce is neither for nor against the project and is meeting with its members, other agencies and city officials to discuss the matter, Chamber President Erikka Storch said. In September 2018, the chamber issued a statement supporting the tax levy for the public safety building.
"Our goal is to explore, understand and investigate all the options available to provide the best facilities, at an affordable cost, for our first responders," Storch said.
Six West Virginia cities have user fees, Elliott said, which typically involves a deduction from an employee's paycheck. A $1 user fee would result in a $1 payroll deduction each week for people who work in the city, or $52 a year.
Both Elliott and Thalman said they see the user fee as the best option for funding the public safety building. The fee would tax all people who work in the city and thus benefit from first responder services, and would exempt senior citizens living on fixed incomes.
"The idea of raising taxes is not something anybody on city council is happy about, but the idea of doing nothing, kicking the can down the road, not taking care of our first responders and not investing in public safety is an equally unpleasant option," Thalman said.
The project would involve constructing an $18 million public safety building at a city-owned lot across from Market Plaza on Market Street, with a $2 million contingency. The project would also include $2 million for improvements to fire stations, a new fire engine and bond issuance.
Chiefs of both the city police and fire department said the building is largely needed. The Wheeling Fire Department has been challenged by structural issues at both of its stations on Market and Main Streets, Chief Larry Helms said, and sharing training, exercise and meeting rooms with the police department would prevent the departments from duplicating resources.
In addition, police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said his department suffers from a lack of space and said a new facility would positively impact recruitment and retention.
"For me, the best argument is the synergies and savings from having our police and fire headquarters under one roof," Elliott said.
Thalman, responding to some residents who have asked the city to provide additional options for the building, added that he doesn't think reducing the size of the facility or finding another building to house the departments would work due to the departments' needs.