Commission cuts solid waste fee for Sedgwick County homeowners

Sedgwick County homeowners will see a drop in a fee paid on their property tax bills.

The county commission on Wednesday voted to levy $4.88 per residential property in 2016 for its solid waste fee, which helps pay for programs like debris and waste collection. The current rate is $6.48 per year.

Fees for businesses and other non-residential improved properties will range from $3.44 to $6.87 per year in 2016. Some with multiple tenants, such as malls, will pay a rate that’s $4.58 times the number of tenant spaces. This year’s base rate for non-residential commercial properties is $5.94.

Chris Chronis, the county’s chief financial officer, said the fees are expected to generate $1.14 million. Residential property owners pay a fixed rate, while businesses and other property owners pay a variable rate based on their waste production characteristics.

The fee is added to property tax bills. If a county chooses to assess the fee, by state law it must do so by July 1 for implementation the following year.

“When added to funding that we anticipate from transfer stations tonnage fees, C and D (construction and demolition) landfill licensing fees and available cash from prior years, (the fees) will fund the 2016 proposed budget for the solid waste program,” Chronis said.

Sedgwick County has imposed on property owners a solid waste fee since 2000. Next year’s residential fee decrease is a result of the county eliminating its small-city storm debris removal policy, which provided reimbursements for storm-related expenses. The fund that paid for the storm debris removal was established in 1991 after a tornado swept through Haysville.

The county is developing a new storm debris disposal plan, county environmental resources director Susan Erlenwein said during Wednesday’s commission meeting.

Commissioner Tim Norton said while he doesn’t have a problem reducing the solid waste fee, “I would never want to get down to where we have a balance of zero so we don’t have the ability to help out our neighbors and some of the people that we serve.”

The commission approved the fee decrease in a 4-0 vote. Dave Unruh was absent.

This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 7:44 AM with the headline "Commission cuts solid waste fee for Sedgwick County homeowners."