"Business" of User Fees - US Fire Administration - Federal ...

19Much of the litigation involving user fees centers on whether a charge is anactual fee or a tax that has been disguised as a user fee. Withers (1994) states that,taxes are involuntary contributions to the community treasury designed to raiserevenues. A user fee is a charge imposed upon persons or property in exchange for aparticular government service. The United States Supreme Court has answered thequestion by establishing a three-part test to determine whether a charge is a user fee:• Fee must be identified with a specific government service• Payment must be voluntary – one must request the service in order for thegovernment to impose the fee• Service must directly benefit the person paying the fee (Withers, 1994)Berman (1997) also found that “fees received mustn’t be collected with the purpose ofraising revenue beyond the cost of the provided service” (p. 69). Again, user fees arenot meant to be profitable, merely able to supplement revenue for providing a service.Once legal issues have been satisfied, support from the community and thedepartment’s policy-making board must be evident for success of the fee. Citizens thathave turned down tax increases before don’t want to see the issue reborn as a user fee.A fire department budget must reflect not only what the fire executive wants formonetary policy, but more importantly, it must reflect the policy that the citizenswant. Certain budget priorities may sound very reasonable to the fire chief, whilethe community may have quite a different agenda (Waselchuk, 1997, p.14).Knowing your community and the priorities of the citizens and policy makers is a mustfor the success of a user fee program.