 In 1995 , the City of Washington passed Ordinance 1460 , which established a " service fee " for municipal services that was targeted at Washington & Jefferson College students . The college appealed this ordinance to the Courts of Common Pleas of Washington County , arguing that " the ordinance is an illegal tax ordinance , not authorized by statute . " In an opinion written by Judge David L. Gilmore , the court ruled that the " service fee " was actually a " tax masquerading as a fee " and that the label was " given to it merely to avoid the problem presented by enacting such a tax . " The court noted that there was no legal basis for calling this ordinance a tax rather than a service fee , since the city admitted that it was facing budgetary shortfalls and had passed the ordinance in search of new revenue . According to the judge , the " ordinance attempts to raise additional revenue thereby creating a tax , " which was not authorized by any statute . This case has been cited by legal counsel for local governments , cautioning against enacting similar provisions . 
