West Virginia Cities by Population

1. West Virginia Cities by Population • Charleston - Population: 53421 - • Huntington - Population: 51475 - • Parkersburg - Population: 33099 - • Wheeling - Population: 31419 - • Morgantown - Population: 26809  http://www.maps-n-stats.com/us_wv_population.html

2. History of Population “Over the past 30 years, the City's population has declined due to social and economic forces. In 1960, Parkersburg enjoyed an all-time high population of 44,797. By 1990, population has declined by 24 percent to 33,862.” http://archives.hud.gov/reports/plan/wv/parkerwv.html

3. Progression of the Parkersburg User Fee 2005 to present

4. July 11, 2003 Mayor Newell asks city council to • Raise traffic citation fees • Charge businesses for police to respond • Increase fingerprint fees • Increase costs of accident reports • Increase costs of criminal reports Parkersburg News & Sentinel

5. 2005 - July 24thParkersburg News and Sentinel “Newell wants to examine the possibilities afforded by recent legislation allowing counties to apply for local tax variations. A service fee assessed on anyone who works in the city or a wage tax on nonresidents could be explored,”

6. March 16, 2009 Parkersburg News and Sentinel “Huntington has used a Municipal Service fee to replace fire and floodwall fees” “Newell said he's not a proponent of a user fee. He feels it would be unfair for residents who also work in the city to have to pay.”

7. August 12, 2009 “The city received more than $300,000 in state grants “ “The state awarded the city more than $110,000 for the Jefferson Elementary Center for the Safe Routes to School program and $200,000 for the completion of the Fifth Street Enhancement project” “Newell said Tuesday's grant will finish the project from below Market Street to the Parkersburg-Belpre Bridge.” Parkersburg News and Sentinel

8. September 30, 2010 WTAP “Wednesday evening Parkersburg Mayor Bob Newell, city officials, and revenue enhancement committee members met to discuss solutions for a 2.5 million dollar deficit. The committee decided on a user fee, which would require people who work inside the city limits to pay a $3 dollar fee per week.”

9. October 6, 2010 “Parkersburg Mayor Bob Newell fielded questions Tuesday night on a proposed $3 a week user fee at a city town hall meeting. The city has been facing steadily declining revenue, which could be worsened when St. Joseph's Hospital becomes not-for-profit within the next few weeks. That will mean a loss of about $1 million for the city.”

10. October 8, 2010 WV Metro News “Newell said the fees are a result of limited options given to him by the state legislature. "The state legislature gives us very few options, and we have to come up with these ridiculous fees - fire fees, police fees, user fees." Newell said even if the user fee were instituted, that doesn't mean it would be permanent. "Once the economy improves, it is likely that those things can be readjusted," Newell said.”

11. Continued from Metro News “The current budget shortfall is about $1.5 million.  Once the loss of revenue from St. Joseph's is added, the deficit is more than $2.5 million. The mayor said with a user fee, Parkersburg could eliminate that problem. "If, in fact, City Council decides on a user fee at $3, we would bring in about $3 million," Newell said.  "That's $400,000 more than the shortfall at this point in time.“

12. October 1, 2010WTAP “Mayor Newell, city officials, and revenue enhancement committee members say the user fee is needed to offset a 2.5 million dollar deficit, caused by the economic downtown and made worse after news earlier this month of plans for the for-profit St. Joseph's Hospital to be purchased by a non-profit entity.”

13. October 1, 2010 WTAP “The Chairman of the Revenue Enhancement Committee, Jim Reed, said losing St. Joseph's Hospital hurt their business occupation tax, which he said makes up 50 percent of the revenue to pay funds.”

14. November 8, 2010 “Newell says the city faces a $2.5 million budget deficit and has other needs like $8 million in infrastructure problems. Even adding a $3-a-week user fee for those who work in the city will only raise $3 million a year.” WV Metro News

15. November 10, 2010 Parkersburg News & Sentinel “council approved the first reading of the proposed user fee, but it was knocked down to $2.50 a week.” “In amending the fee, council also agreed to collect only the last four digits of social security numbers and any money collected from the fee this fiscal year will go into the city's capital reserve fund. Kimes said this move would provide more transparency for residents as council would have to approve requisitions from reserve to other allocations. According to the ordinance, all revenues generated by the city service user fee imposed would be dedicated to fire and police protection, flood protection, traffic and street maintenance and public works projects.

16. Continued..from November 10.. “The move to cut down the social security numbers for collection was an attempt to appease council member Sharyn Tallman, who remained unswayed in her opinion. Tallman was the lone "no" vote to the fee. She attempted to amend the fee to eliminate using social security numbers altogether, but it died from lack of a second. A second proposed amendment from Tallman, to institute a two-year sunset on the fee, also failed, netting only two "yes" votes. Santer noted council could change the fee at any time. If approved on second reading - at the Dec. 14 meeting-the fee will not go into effect until midnight Jan. 31, 2011.”

17. November 25, 2010 “The proposed user fee being considered by the city of Parkersburg will not be a bailout, but a means to do projects and services that have gone without funding, Parkersburg Mayor Robert Newell said.” “Newell said. ''We have a list of projects that have needed done, but we haven't had the money to do them.'' The money would have to go to drainage, street and other public works projects as well as police and fire services. Newell said the money would be needed to fix streets and roads which are in poor condition as well as pay for services that have been in decline.” Parkersburg News and Sentinel

18. December 1, 2010School officials discuss user fee “Teachers and service personnel working in schools and facilities outside of Parkersburg will not be assessed the city's proposed user fee” Connie Roberts, finance director for Wood County Schools, said officials are still unsure how substitute teachers and substitute service personnel would be assessed the fee. At this point, she said, officials believe subs would be assessed the fee if they worked any days within the city of Parkersburg. "If they work even one day, they would pay the $2.50 fee for the week," Roberts said.” Parkersburg News & Sentinel

19. December 1, 2010 City officials are ready for winter weather but are waiting on city council before deciding how to handle plowing the streets. Mayor Bob Newell said the city has an ample supply of salt on hand for the upcoming season, but he is waiting on Parkersburg City Council to make a decision on the proposed $2.50-a-week user fee before deciding how the streets will be handled. "If there is no extra money for salt coming in, we will have to tail back. If there is (money), we will go back to our original way of doing the streets." Parkersburg News & Sentinel

20. http://www.parkersburg-wv.com/downloads/budget_revised_01jul10_30jun11.pdfhttp://www.parkersburg-wv.com/downloads/budget_revised_01jul10_30jun11.pdf

21. http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

22. http://statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=39911&catid=159http://statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=39911&catid=159

23. http://www.bls.gov/ro3/fax_9626.htm

24. http://www.indeed.com/forum/loc/Parkersburg-West-Virginia.htmlhttp://www.indeed.com/forum/loc/Parkersburg-West-Virginia.html “Average salaries for job postings in Parkersburg, WV are 21% lower than average salaries for job postings nationwide.” Jobs Trends Data for Parkersburg