PTC Council raises city court fees by $50K a year

The Peachtree City Council on April 7 discussed adopting an ordinance that would establish rules and a fee schedule for utility work done on city right-of-way. In another matter, council members at the meeting agreed to an increase in some municipal court fees.

The Right-of-Way Occupancy ordinance will apply to utility companies and will require permits and establish procedures for excavating in the city right-of-way and establish a fee structure.

With the presentation of the draft ordinance complete, the measure is expected to come back to the council for a vote on May 5.

Also at the meeting, an item on the consent agenda to increase administrative fees for municipal court citations was approved by the council.

The municipal court asked that the administrative fees on the majority of citations and city ordinance violations be raised from $15 to $20. The increase would help the offset the rising cost of daily inmate housing and the cost of the indigent defense fund, said court administrator Kimberly Jones in an April 7 letter.

The increase is expected to generate approximately $45,000-50,000 per year, Jones said.