Print edition: 
Homeowners in Sedgwick County will pay $1.66 more a year for a solid-waste fee assessed on their property tax bills.
The annual fee will rise from $4.04 to $5.70 a year for residential property owners and from $4.40 to $5.46 for commercial property owners.
County commissioners voted 4-1 Wednesday to raise the fees, which will go into effect July 1 and appear on November property tax statements.
Chairman Karl Peterjohn voted against raising the fee, saying he promised during his campaign to push for voter approval of tax increases.
The charge is considered a fee, not a tax, under state law.
Peterjohn contended last week that the fee amounts to a tax because everyone must pay it even if they don't take advantage of services such as the county's household hazardous waste facility or disposal events.
The fees are expected to raise about $1.3 million next year. The increase will help cover storm cleanup and a tire disposal event.
The fee was at its highest in 2002 at $5.48 for residential property owners and $6.30 for commercial property owners.
Commissioners also considered an option last week that would have raised the fee by $3.80 for residential property owners and by $2.65 for commercial property owners. That increase would have paid for electronic waste and television disposal events.
The majority of the board did not support raising the fee that much.
