Mayor: User Fee Helps Wheeling Tackle Needed Projects
Money generated by the city of Wheeling’s User Fee – or City Service Fee – has made it possible to move forward with construction of new public safety facilities, but those funds also help the city tackle a variety of other important municipal projects.
A number of slip repair projects have been completed with use of money from the City Service Fee, and recently, two more projects were given the green light. Wheeling City Council recently approved ordinances authorizing City Manager Robert Herron to spend $125,000 for the Cedarwood slip repair project in Elm Grove and another $61,222 for the Incline Avenue slip repair project near Mozart.
Both contracts were awarded to BBR Drilling Company of Belmont, and both will be completed using funds generated by the City Service Fee.
Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott said these types of projects are great examples of how the city is able to use money from this fee to move ahead with needed infrastructure work, particularly jobs that may be beyond the scope of routine maintenance.
“I know a lot of attention has been given to it being used for public safety facilities, which is an important use of it, but there are also a lot of deferred infrastructure projects that are being moved forward now with the use of that fee,” Elliott said.
At the beginning of 2020, the city implemented the User Fee as a way to pay for a new Public Safety Building for new police and fire department headquarters. The controversial move came after a 2018 levy for the Public Safety Building that garnered more than 50% of the vote, but failed to pass the required 60% support threshold required in West Virginia.
The prior regime of Wheeling City Council implemented the User Fee – a $2 per week City Service Fee for everyone who works within the city limits. Of every $2 collected, $1 was to be dedicated to the public safety facilities and the other $1 was set aside for needed infrastructure projects.
While controversial, the User Fee has helped major projects move forward. The city opted to renovate a vacant building on the former Ohio Valley Medical Center campus for the new Wheeling Police Department Headquarters. That $6.5 million project is nearing completion. A new $9 million Wheeling Fire Department Headquarters is being built along 17th Street in East Wheeling from the ground up. The foundation was just recently poured for that 26,000-square-foot facility, which is expected to be completed before the end of next year.
The User Fee fund has also been eyed for infrastructure projects such as the Wheeling Hill sidewalk repair projects and the two slip repair projects that were recently approved.
“I do want to thank both the current council and prior council for making that possible,” Elliott said. “I’m encouraged to see these moving forward.”