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| Sedgwick County eliminates jail tax option |
| By Joe Rodriguez |
| Published: 04/16/2009 |
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WICHITA - Sedgwick County commissioners on Wednesday voted to exempt the county from part of a state statute related to billing cities for housing inmates in the jail. With its unanimous vote, the commission made inapplicable a provision that county officials said was outdated and unfair because it only applied to Sedgwick County. "I think this starts to clean up some language... I felt needed to be cleaned up years ago," Commissioner Tim Norton said. At issue was a provision to a 1984 law that gave Sedgwick County the authority to impose a special jail tax -- not to exceed one mill -- that would be used "in lieu of charging city authorities for the cost of maintenance of prisoners." But county officials said the county has never levied the tax. That's an issue because the county last year began charging cities in Sedgwick County a $2.09 hourly fee for housing inmates on municipal -- not district court -- charges. The county has maintained that the fee is a way to try to encourage cities to think of alternatives to sending inmates to a jail that's struggling with overcrowding. At least nine cities have paid the fees, but several cities, including Wichita, have refused to pay. The county filed suit against those cities last fall. The matter is scheduled to go to trial in May 2010. The city of Wichita has said that the fees basically amount to double-dipping into taxpayers' pockets because 75 percent of the county's budget is already being paid for by Wichita residents. As of last week, the county said Wichita owed $4.25 million. Several of the cities named in the lawsuit cited the failure to rescind the law as a reason why jail fees were invalid. Park City is one of them. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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