Salt Lake County's unpopular police fee may be going away.

A House committee approved HB226 Monday that would repeal the county's police fee by Jan. 1, 2012.

The county began collecting the fee last year on taxpayers in the unincorporated portions of the state's most populous county, ostensibly to cover $12 million in law enforcement costs in the unincorporated areas.

Homeowners are assessed an annual $162 fee, while businesses are charged more.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said he argued "vehemently that this fee not be imposed." He said he has cut $14 million from his department's budget, and he believes the county used law enforcement as an excuse to raise taxes to balance the county budget.

"I want to be here today and express my concern with that because it is not the police officers that serve in the Unified Police Department that have anything to do with this," Winder said.

Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, said the county should have gone through the normal public hearings process to raise taxes, instead of just levying the fee.

Salt Lake County Councilman Michael Jensen, a Republican, said the county has scaled back the fee as sales tax receipts have rebounded.

"The majority of the council wants to get rid of the fee, and we're in agreement that it's not something we like," said Jensen, the only member of the county council who lives in unincorporated Salt Lake County and has to pay the fee. "I don't like it. I hate it. I want to get rid of it, too. The issue for us is how we're going to provide for law enforcement in the unincorporated area."

Harper's bill had initially been intended to take effect July 1 and would have required the county to refund payments that had already been made this year. But the committee extended the repeal deadline to Jan. 1, 2012, in order to give the county a way to balance its budget.

The measure passed the committee 7-1, with only Rep. Larry Wiley, D-West Valley City, voting against the measure. It now goes to the full House for consideration.