Metro Atlanta cities criticized for excessive reliance on fines and fees

ATLANTA - A Georgia organization says a group of cities across metro Atlanta are relying too much on fining residents to pay for city services.

According to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, 86 cities and counties rely heavily on fines and fees to cover services in 2022.

The organization dubs these communities as "abusive reliance," meaning at least 10% of their total revenue for budgets comes from fines and fees.

"In many cases, we believe we are seeing a pattern that disproportionately impacts individuals with low income and people of color," stated David Schaefer, vice president of research and policy at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

The most recent numbers used in the report are from 2022. Several metro Atlanta cities are on the list.

According to the institute, Norcross derived 29% of its budget from fines and fees. Snellville, Jonesboro, Lilburn and Lithonia are other communities.

Some cities have improved over the years. Lilburn went from 22% in 2016 to 12% in 2022. Lithonia, back in 2017, had a fine and fee reliance percentage of 31%, a number that decreased to 11% in 2022.

The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute says it is working on ideas to help governments not be over reliant on fines. Schaefer believes a key solution for taxpayers is tax relief.

"It's a lot in the toolbox, be it can earn income tax credit that's fully refundable or steps the state could take to invest in economic mobility for all of the communities across the state," said Schaefer.

You can read more about the study here.