Are Fees the Same as Taxes? [POLL]

Fees and Taxes, people hate both but are they the same thing? Last Friday on Lubbock's First News, Mayor Tom Martin said that he doesn't believe they are the same thing. You can hear the Mayor discuss the topic and other issues here. The Mayor said that taxes are paid by everyone in the city no matter what. However fees are only paid by those who use the service. That includes stormwater and wastewater fees as well. The Mayor says in the interview that no one is forced to use the city's water and residents could use wells if they wanted.

However, two candidates for City Council disagree. Randy Sanders who is running for District 6 City Council, and Glen Robertson who is running for Mayor say taxes and fees are the same thing.

So what do you think? Are they the same? Many on the council say they are against raising taxes, but fees keep going up.