Yet another fee idea

There's another new government services fee idea floating around out there, and WayneWho staff is kind of surprised that we haven't heard about it locally...yet. The new fee idea for local governments is a fuel surcharge. Almost every airline and transportation carrier has implemented something similar already, so we were not surprised to see some governments trying it out.

The City of Holly Springs, an Atlanta suburb, is considering levying a $12 fuel surcharge to tickets issued by their police department as well as city ordinance violation notices. The city's police chief estimated that the surcharge would generate $35,000 - $45,000 annually.

Is this something that local governments might put on the table as a way to offset rising fuel costs in any department that justifiably uses a government vehicle? Building Inspectors, Code Enforcement, Public Safety, and other departments that require travel as part of their operation may eventually look at incorporating a fee such as this to target those using the service instead of spreading the burden over the entire tax base.

The real question that needs to be asked would be if a fee like this is really needed? If local governments and the departments within them can prove they have cut back to the bare minimums in operational costs, then a fee like this might gain support in the community. The problem we see with establishing a fuel surcharge is that we still see too many single occupant city and county vehicles in line at the Wendy's drive through for lunch. Additional fees are not needed if every attempt to cut expenses has not been implemented. It is also hard to justify new fees when local governments think it is their responsibility to divert tax money from citizens to non-profit organizations that taxpayers may or may not want to support and can support on their own if they choose to.

Watch out... we are sure that it won't be long before this fee idea will be coming to a commission chamber near you.