MILTON-FREEWATER — City officials this month voted to add one and increase other surcharges to utility customer accounts.

Added up, the surcharge will cost each utility customer an additional $6.50 per month, which won’t fluctuate with use rates, City Manager Linda Hall said.

The increase goes into effect July 1.

Since July 2007, the city has tacked on an extra fee to water and sewer bills, which was extended to electricity use the next year.

The original charge of $2.50 per month has stayed the same over the past 14 years, and it was never applied to all utilities, Hall said at last week’s Milton-Freewater City Council meeting.

With cost of repairs leaping and customer base increasing, more money is needed to maintain a consistent fund for matching grants or paying down loans for major repairs or improvements, Hall told the council.

A $1 fee added to the costs to utility users, also newly applied to solid waste management, offers a more consistent source of that funding than a rate increase, she said.

The vote passed 4-1, with council member John Lyon opposing the raise. Councilor Brad Humbert was absent.

Lyon said he found the request incongruent with other needs of the city for now.

“We’re asking people to give us $7 million for a new police station,” he said. “This doesn’t seem like the time to ask for this.”