Cart fee increase gouges users

This is in response to the Peachtree City Council’s recent decision to increase the Peachtree City cart path user fee charged to residents who live outside the city.

Using their own numbers, as reported by “The Citizen” Jan. 13, the estimated 1,300 (now including Tyrone) residents who live outside the city will now be expected to pay $115 per year (licensing and registration) for the privilege of accessing the PTC cart path system, totaling approximately $149,000. The estimated 11,400 Peachtree City residents will now pay $15 per year, totaling $171,000.

Common sense would dictate that city residents, who live adjacent to the paths, would use the paths more frequently than those who live outside the city and in most cases must travel some distance just to access the city system.

If the rationale behind these user fees is to augment the maintenance/repair of the paths, logic would dictate that more of the wear and tear on the paths is being caused by the 11,400 city residents than the 1,300 non-residents.

However, under the new system, that 10 percent (non-resident) minority of total users will be expected to shoulder 47 percent of the total path user fee burden.

I’m unaware of any paradigm where that would be considered reasonable by any standard, and is clearly intended to gouge those citizens who have no recourse at the ballot box.

However, we do have recourse through our wallets. Hence, I will no longer be registering my golf cart in the PTC system and will be happy to avoid the PTC paths.

Notably, most of the time, when my family has been accessing the PTC paths, it has been to travel to a restaurant, grocery store, or some other business in the city, and we could turn the purposeful trip into a more enjoyable family outing.

Now that we will be driving our car for those same purposes, we will be happy to now purchase them in Fayetteville. I’m confident that the Fayetteville businesses will be grateful for the increased traffic.

The council’s actions have further reinforced my decision as a former PTC resident and city taxpayer (18 years) to move outside the city limit.

George Rogers
Fayetteville, Ga.