Speed Traps in Georgia Drive City Revenue Sky High
Georgia City Rakes In $1,136 In Traffic Ticket Fines Per Resident
According to the Athens Banner-Herald, the city of Pendergrass, Georgia took in about $558,020 in fines in 2006 - enough to pay the police department’s $312,636 budget in 2006 and then some. That’s quite a profit for any town, but it’s even more amazing when you consider that Pendergrass only has 491 residents. If you do the math that’s a bill of $1,136 per resident! That figure is by far the biggest in the state.
Either people spontaneously become much more dangerous drivers on Pendergrass’s one-mile stretch of highway or the city is trying to pad its budget by ticketing as many drivers as possible. The city can claim that it’s all about safety, but the numbers just don’t add up. Pendergrass takes in nearly five-times the revenue per resident collected by the town with the next highest police-revenue-per-resident numbers.
