NITRO, W.Va. — Emergency services fees outside the city of Nitro will soon go directly to the city.
City Council passed an ordinance on first reading Tuesday night that Mayor Dave Casebolt expects will raise approximately $100,000 for the city.
“What this covers is the businesses outside the city of Nitro,” Casebolt explained. “We will start charging a fire fee. They currently pay the fire fee; some pay it to Putnam County and some pay it to Kanawha County. Now it will come to Nitro.”
Councilman John Montgomery said the charges would depend on the location of the call and on the service being requested. Casebolt said the idea had been talked about for a while but Nitro was inspired by a similar case in Bridgeport.
“Bridgeport did this fee. It was appealed to the Supreme Court and they ruled in favor of Bridgeport. When that happened we worked on getting our fee in place,” Casebolt said.
Casebolt explained that the new ordiance would cover a wide range of areas.
“Nitro is the one that responds to those places anyway. We respond to 100 percent of those calls, both fire and police, to these places outside the city.”