Charleston's 35,941 registered voters will have the opportunity July 24 to decide whether to keep the $1-per-week user fee that has helped the capital city pave more roads and provide more police officers since 2004.

Huntington and Weirton also have user fees, and Morgantown may consider one as well, but it was Charleston's fee that set off a legal storm that took two years to resolve. When the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals finally got its chance to rule on the user fee, it upheld the fee in principle but said the city of Charleston did not provide adequate notice to its residents; therefore, the city must hold an election so residents can vote up or down on the user fee.

"The Supreme Court had a technical problem with the notice we provided," Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said. "We are reasonably confident the outcome will be positive."

Beginning Jan. 1, 2004, anyone working within city limits paid $1 a week to city government, a fee that generated from $2.5 million to $2.8 million per year. So far, the city has collected about $6 million, and with that money it has stepped up its road improvements and provided more police protection in the city.

Only those who work within the city pay the user fee, but all registered voters who are residents of the city -- regardless of whether they work in Charleston -- can vote on the issue. The Supreme Court found a flaw with how Charleston provided notice of the ability to protest the city council's decision to implement the user fee. Because only residents can protest the decisions of City Council, the Supreme Court's decision required a vote of city residents.

The fee has generated some criticism from people who work in Charleston but live outside the city. Thornton Cooper, the attorney who sued the city over its user fee, lives in South Charleston but works in Charleston.

"People who are upset -- those who work here but don't live here -- I invite them to move. We'd love to have them here," Jones said. "One dollar a week is reasonable. We did exactly what the law said and the judges said. We won the case. We just have to have an election."

That election will cost the city $120,000 -- money spent conducting the election and paying for the day to be a city holiday.

Rod Blackstone, assistant to the mayor, said the city held user fee collections in escrow, but the Kanawha County Circuit Court ruled the fee was proper and gave permission for the city to start spending it.

"We can follow every dollar," he said. "We know what streets were paved with it, and the police department actually has 'user fee' officers."

Blackstone said Charleston Police Department crime statistics show a decrease in certain crimes. Comparing the January-to-June time period from 2004 to 2006 shows a decrease in murder, forcible rape, robbery, malicious wounding/aggravated assault, burglary or breaking and entering and motor vehicle theft.

When asked whether he thought the average citizen was aware the election was coming up, Blackstone said the news will pick up soon.

"People will start talking about it. It's going to be an issue because it's a news story. This is a home rule issue," he said, referring to the highly centralized nature of West Virginia's tax structure.

User fees are one of the few ways cities have of increasing their revenues, Blackstone said.

Jones, who also is vice president of the West Virginia Municipal League, said he realizes the Legislature is unlikely to give more taxing power to municipalities even as state government undertakes tax reform this year.

"The state is not going to give up anything. Legislators are not going to do anything to hurt themselves politically. That's what I've learned," Jones said. "We (cities) do the best we can."