Get the facts on golf cart registration fees
?The City’s legal counsel does not agree with the legal analysis provided by others on this issue, and has prepared the following statement to provide clarification as to the City’s compliance with Georgia law:

The city has received inquiries concerning the fees charged for golf carts that use the City’s path system.

The fees charged by the City were established in accordance with Georgia law. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-331(b) provides that “a local authority may, by ordinance, require local registration and licensing of PTVs operated within its boundaries AT LEAST once every five years for a fee not to exceed $15.” That statute, by its terms, does not limit the City to charging one fee every five years. Rather, the statute allows the city to charge the relevant fees AT LEAST once every five years. To that end, the City can charge a fee for every year.

The City can also charge user fees for persons who use golf carts on the City’s path system. Under Georgia law, those fees are to approximate the cost of incurred by the City to provide the service or amenity. The City spends in excess of $3 million per year to maintain the path system. To that end, the fees charged for golf carts using the path system cover only a fraction of the overall cost of maintaining the paths. User fees can be appropriated between city residents and non-residents, given that a portion of taxes paid by city residents are allocated by the City for path maintenance.