Charleston Mayor Danny Jones proposed raising the city's user fee Monday evening during a speech to council members.
The fee, which was scheduled to go up in 2020, would be brought up by 50 cents to $3 a week if a bill is passed. The fee was last increased in 2015.
The raise in the fee would pay for 10 additional police officers and pay for additional renovations to a small, city-owned building in Slack Plaza to house a mini-station for walking and K-9 Units, Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster said. Webster said the change needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Funds collected from the user fee are directed to the police department and street paving.
Jones' announcement came after an impassioned speech about issues with vagrancy in the city.
He said as people take advantage of free meals and services from churches and nonprofits, they walk from place to place, casing properties for future crimes.
"It's the worst that I've ever seen it," Jones said.
Several city officials have cited concerns with a rising homeless population this summer.
Councilman Ed Talkington, who represents Ward 6 on the West Side, plans on being one of the sponsors for a future bill to raise the user fee. He said moving the fee increase up two years may help curb crime in the city.
"If we can move it up two years, why not?" Talkington said. "Ten cops can make a big difference."
Webster wants to make it clear the police department is not trying to target local homeless residents who are not breaking the law - they are concerned with "transient" criminal vagrants.
"He [the mayor] doesn't want to stop the generosity and the charity," Webster said.
Webster said while the city appreciates nonprofits providing services, but the city needs to work with them to find solutions.
"There has to be some sort of middle ground here," Webster said.
The user fee increase would allow more police visibility on the West Side and downtown specifically, which several council members have encouraged in private conversations with him, Webster said.
The police chief said the rise has lead to increased property crimes throughout the city. He said he spends more time answering messages about public nuisances downtown now than he ever has as a police officer.
"It truly consumes my day," Webster said.
He said it leads to officers "babysitting" vacant structures and clearing out houses of instead of handling other crimes.
Councilwoman Shannon Snodgrass, who represents Ward 11 in the most northeastern portion of the city, said the city could adopt a panhandling ordinance instead of raising the user fee.
But Webster said implementing a panhandling ordinance isn't the correct solution to the problem - several cities throughout the country have had similar ordinances overturned in court, including Parkersburg.
A bill to raise the user fee will be introduced within the next few council meetings. There's no timeline for changes if the fee is increased.
Reach Ali Schmitz at ali.schmitz@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @SchmitzMedia on Twitter.