Fees to taxpayers to use the building they paid for

Of the $1.8 million in so-called cost reductions and additional fees implemented after a $5 million tax increase, a portion of the additional fee revenue resulted from the imposition of a charge, ranging from $30 to $60, to residents renting a conference room in City Hall. Members of City staff or City Council can continue to use the rooms at no charge. The residents paid for City Hall through taxes. City Council has no problem charging the residents a fee to use a room in a building which the residents paid for. The same City Council which exempts itself from the same fee, and which resorts to accounting gimmicks to pass for cost cuts charges residents for the use of a building which they paid for.