Friday, May 11, 2001
Friday, May 11, 2001 |
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Citizens most likely to feel fee increase impact through recreation facility rentals By JOHN
MUNFORD
A host of new fee increases for services in Peachtree City will take effect July 1, but relatively few will directly impact citizens. Most of the fee increases will be passed on to local businesses and developers through an increase in the occupational tax and building permit fees. Individual residents will most likely be affected by increases in recreation fees, although most of those relate to the renting out of recreation facilities such as pools and tennis courts. Councilman Dan Tennant vehemently opposed the recreation fee increases at last week's council meeting, saying he gets many citizen complaints about the current recreation fees. "The residents should be left alone all together," Tennant said. City Finance Director Paul Salvatore said the fees hadn't been increased in a number of years and other cities were charging more for their recreation rental fees. Councilman Steve Rapson said he thought the fee increases were fair. Councilwoman Carol Fritz said the recreation fees help insure that the users of the facilities pay for their operations. "There are a lot of people paying for facilities and not using them," Fritz said. Director of Leisure Services Randy Gaddo noted that residents can avoid the fee increases by using the facilities on a first-come, first-serve basis. The rental fees are charged with facilities are reserved for use by a group or individual which thereby excludes the public from using those facilities, Gaddo said. Tennant was the only council member to vote against increasing the recreation fees. The measure passed 3-1 with Fritz, Rapson and Mayor Bob Lenox in favor. The recreation fee increase also included a new category so commercial entities can be charged a higher price for renting city recreation facilities. The other fee increases suggested by staff were approved unanimously 4-0 with councilwoman Annie McMenamin absent. Those included a raise in the occupational tax from $12 to $15 per employee with an annual increase in the maximum amount a particular business pays. Alcohol license fees were also increased along with the fees for applying for certain building permits. Also, the fines for speeding in a school zone were increased to double the speeding fine for other areas of town.
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