People pay user fees for the use of many public services and facilities. At the federal level in the US, there is a charge for walking to the top of the Statue of Liberty, to drive into many National parks, and to use particular services of the Library of Congress.
States may charge tolls for driving on highways or impose a fee on those who camp in state parks. Communities usually have entrance fees for public swimming pools and meters for parking on local streets as well as perhaps even parking spaces at public beaches, dump stickers and postage stamps. While user fees are a small share of federal and state revenue, they make-up 20 percent of revenues raised in local jurisdictions.
In international development, user fees refer to a system fees for basic health care, education, and/or other services which a developing country implements in order to make up for the costs of these services. The International Monetary Fund often recommends that nations start charging fees for these services in order to reduce their budget deficits. This position by the International Monetary Fund is more and more challenged by many who claim that user fees are the most regressive way of paying for social services. Some even argue that they should be free at the point of use.
Famous quotes containing the words user and/or fee:
“A worker may be the hammer’s master, but the hammer still prevails. A tool knows exactly how it is meant to be handled, while the user of the tool can only have an approximate idea.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“As a general rule never take your whole fee in advance, nor any more than a small retainer. When fully paid beforehand, you are more than a common mortal if you can feel the same interest in the case, as if something was still in prospect for you, as well as for your client.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)