ATLANTA, GA (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — In the face of a $140 million budget shortfall, the City of Atlanta is weighing the possibility of adding a $1 surcharge to all professional sporting event and major concert tickets for events held in the city.
The measure was proposed by Councilman Jim Maddox, hoping to defray some of the costs associated with such events, such as detailing additional police officers and post-event cleanup crews, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
"We need to at some point recapture some of these costs because we are in a [budget] crisis," Maddox told the Journal-Constitution.
This isn't the first time this has come up in Atlanta and similar proposals have been shot down in the past. The current financial crisis is forcing many cities, Atlanta included, to reconsider this however. Similar proposals have come up in Indianapolis and Detroit and other cities such as Pittsburgh and Cleveland collect "amusement" taxes which are a percentage of the face value of a ticket.
Not everyone is a supporter of this plan however and some have expressed concerns that the fee will discourage performers from including Atlanta in a tour itinerary.
"In the long run, it could cost money instead of making money," Live Nation's Peter Conlon told the AJC "Would you want to lose those events over a dollar?" – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
