The price of throwing away trash, flushing your toilet or playing a round of golf could get a little more expensive in 2003.

City commissioners are poised to approve a series of fee increases to support next year’s budget. City officials, however, say Lawrence residents still might be getting a bargain.

	Sewer fee increasesTypical monthly sewer charge for a family sending 10,000 gallons of wastewater into the system:1999: $30.192000: $31.562001: $33.202002: $34.922003: $36.83 (proposed)

“I think our fees compare pretty favorably with other areas, especially in terms of what we provide for the money,” City Manager Mike Wildgen said Wednesday at a city commission budget hearing.

Among the expected increases:

Stormwater fees will rise from $3 a month to $4 for most homes, an increase approved in 2000. The stormwater charge, which helps pay for projects designed to prevent a repeat of flooding the city experienced in 1993, was established at $2 in 1997.

“With these rate increases in place, we are about to start construction on the next three priority … projects,” Chad Voigt, the city stormwater engineer, said in a memorandum. Those projects would improve rainwater flow at 21st and Massachusetts streets; on 21st Street from Stewart Avenue to Naismith Drive; and along 20th Street from Alabama Street to Naismith Drive.

Sanitation fees, for trash pickup, will rise 3 percent. Residential customers will see their monthly bill upped from $10.92 per month to $11.25. The fee has risen steadily since the late 1980s; the monthly residential charge was $7.34 a month in 1989.

Bob Yoos, the city’s solid waste manager, said in a memorandum that residential trash collection had grown about 3 percent a year since 1997. Rising fuel costs and employee health-insurance costs also add to the department’s expenses, he said.

Wastewater fees will go up 6 percent. For a typical family sending 10,000 gallons of waste a month into the sewer system, officials said, the monthly cost would rise from $34.92 a month to $36.83 a month.

The increase will help pay for general sewer improvements, as well as for sewer and pump station improvements at East Hills Business Park and at the airport, among other locations.

Anna Miller, who moved about a year ago to Lawrence from Wyoming, said she paid twice as much for city utilities here as she did in the Equality State.

“To me they seem high, but I don’t know how they compare regionally,” she said. However, she added that the proposed hikes didn’t seem unreasonable.

And the cost of a round at the city’s Eagle Bend Golf Course also may rise, from $16 to $16.50 for 18 holes during the week, and from $18.50 to $19.50 for 18 holes on the weekend. The cost of renting a cart would rise from $12 a seat to $12.50.

Parks officials said the costs would help pay for improvements and maintenance at Eagle Bend.

Norm Slade, a Lawrence resident who frequents the course, said the cost already had risen incrementally in the past several years.

“It keeps increasing, but it’s still a pretty good buy compared to other courses around,” he said.

Commissioners have scrapped a proposal to raise the money by occasionally closing the course for weekend tournaments. Instead, Commissioner David Dunfield suggested increasing the fees for out-of-county golfers.

Slade seconded that suggestion, noting that he had to pay extra when he teed off at courses in other counties.

“It’s OK for them to come from out of town, but they ought to generate a little extra revenue,” he said.

Commissioners ordered Wildgen to explore the option.

Mayor Sue Hack said the increases were necessary to maintain city services.

“Anytime you increase fees it’s burdensome,” she said. “It certainly isn’t something we look forward to, but we’ve already committed to a lot of these projects.”

Staff writer Mindie Paget contributed to this story.