The service of fire protection shall be continued, maintained and improved by the City, in part, at the charge and expense of the owners of buildings and structures of every kind and nature within the City, the occupiers or tenants of such buildings and structures, and the owners of vehicles within the City, which owners and occupiers are declared to be the users and beneficiaries of such fire protection service as contemplated by West Virginia Code 8-13-13.
The charges and expenses with respect to each of such users as set out in this article shall be based and imposed, in part, upon recognition of the following legislative findings:
(a) The size of a building, as reflected by the total square feet, is a factor which affects the cost of providing fire protection and, therefore, the fees imposed hereunder are related in part to the size of the building.
(b) The use of a building is a factor which affects the cost of providing fire protection and accordingly nonresidential property as compared to residential property requires additional equipment and manpower to provide effective fire protection and, therefore, it is the intent of this article that owners and occupiers of residential buildings pay a lesser charge for fire protection to reflect the reduced cost of protection. The legislative intent and purposes for both the fire protection service approved and adopted in 1983 are hereby adopted as continuing. The charges imposed, assessed and levied herein are in accordance with this intent. (Ord. 96- 24. Passed 12-19-96.)