If

Peachtree City decides to levy impact fees to

help pay for the new county jail, new residents

might be the only ones asked to pay the tab.

At

a council meeting last week, the Peachtree City

Council made it clear that it strongly opposes

charging the impact fees on industries and

businesses.

The

county commission has asked local cities to

charge the impact fees to defray the costs of the

new jail. The county's recommended impact fee

formula calls for new industries and businesses

to be assessed the fees along with new

residences.

The

city could lose money by collecting the impact

fees from industries and businesses, said Mayor

Bob Lenox. The city would be required to

"credit" a new business or industry the

amount of money it pays in an impact fee, City

Attorney Rick Lindsey confirmed.

"That's

like taking $100,000 out of my pocket,"

Lenox said. "That's why we have a

problem."

Lenox

also said the fees would hurt the recruitment of

new industries.

Councilman

Robert Brooks said the county could collect the

impact fee from Peachtree City residents instead

of the city doing the work. But assistant county

attorney Dennis Davenport said the county

wouldn't have jurisdiction to do that.

Lenox

said the city could determine its own formula for

collecting impact fees regardless of what the

county or other municipalities do.

"I

really don't care whether it matches up with what

you're doing," Lenox added.

Davenport

indicated that the impact fee proposal would

stand a better chance of being approved by the

state if all the municipalities agreed on the

impact fee structure.

"We're

trying to get something that's acceptable to

everybody," said county commission chairman

Harold Bost. "We're trying to get everybody

to agree so the new growth can pay for the new

jail."

Bost

added that the county is losing $4,000 in

additional revenue to pay off the jail for each

day the impact fee is not in place.