The City Council finds:
(A) The city provides emergency services to residents and non-residents both within and outside its corporate borders, including non-residents both within and outside the city’s Fire Service District;
(B) Such emergency services include police protection and fire protection;
(C) Residents of the city and owners of property located in the city pay for the emergency services through payment of ad valorem property taxes, municipal service fees and municipal B&O taxes;
(D) Nonresidents of the city who receive the emergency services do not pay for the emergency services received;
(E) The provision of emergency services to nonresidents of the city results in the temporary removal from the city of scarce resources in the form of city personnel, city fire and police equipment and city-owned materials;
(F) The provision of such emergency services is within the authority of and is at the direct request of Putnam County 911, Kanawha County 911 or the State Police;
(G) W. Va. Code 8-15-3 authorizes every municipality to enter into a fire service contract to provide fire protection for property located outside municipal borders;
(H) W. Va. Code 8-15-3 provides the method to calculate the amount of the annual payment for the provision of the fire protection service under a fire service contract;
(I) Since emergency services other than those emergency services provided under a fire protection contract are only provided to nonresidents of the city when directed by either Putnam County 911 or Kanawha County 911, it is reasonable to derive a portion of the cost of providing and maintaining such services from the individuals to whom the services are provided;
(J) W. Va. Code 8-13-13 provides that every municipality has the plenary power and authority to provide by ordinance for the installation, continuance, maintenance or improvement of such emergency services, to make reasonable regulations with respect thereto, and to impose by ordinance upon the users of such emergency services reasonable rates, fees and charges to be collected in the manner prescribed in the ordinance;
(K) All of those individuals who use, enjoy and benefit from these emergency services should bear an equitable share of the costs thereof;
(L) The imposition of the emergency service user fee established herein is a reasonable system of distributing the costs to all of the users of the emergency services;
(M) The State Legislature has conferred upon municipalities the plenary power to enact reasonable administrative provisions to ensure the efficient, orderly and equitable implementation and collection of the emergency service user fees from all users;
(N) It is in the best interests of the citizens of the city and the users of emergency services to enact this subchapter to impose an emergency service user fee;
(O) There are many individuals who benefit from emergency services who are not owners of property or residents of the city; and
(P) The fee imposed is reasonable, not excessive, and warranted based upon a reasonable allocation of the fee payers’ usage of the emergency services contemplated herein.
(Ord. 09-01, passed 2-17-2009; Ord. passed 8-18-2015; Ord. passed 10-6-2015)