Opinion Number

Dear Dr. Kyle:

You requested the opinion of this office concerning the reasonableness of certain user fees when they are coupled with certain dedicated taxes. You advised that in certain situations, there is a continual surplus of user fees to be transferred to the general fund because the particular service is also covered by a dedicated tax.

Your first question is, if a particular service is covered by both a user fee and a dedicated tax, is it reasonable to allow the municipality to continue to charge the user fee?

This question cannot be answered in the abstract. It is fact sensitive. The…