Councilman wants to add surcharge to event tickets to help public safety

ATLANTA - An Atlanta City Councilman wants to up the price of a ticket to large sports events and cultural events in the city. Councilman Dustin Hillis says the extra money would be dedicated to public safety. 

"The people of Atlanta know we need dedicated sources of funding for our police department, our fire department and our corrections department," said Councilman Hillis. 

Monday he introduced a resolution to study adding a surcharge to tickets for events with more than 1000 people.  That would include Falcons games, Hawks games, Atlanta United, large concerts and events like Music Midtown.

Councilman Hillis says the amount would be on a sliding scale. 

"Depending on what your ticket cost it could be as low as 50 cents or at the highest, it would be 3 to 4 dollars," said Councilman Hillis. 

Matthew Field is a Falcon's fan and says the plan makes sense to him.  

"I don't see that big of a deal as much as we pay for tickets now," said Field. 

Councilman Hillis says the plan would draw from Atlanta citizens and tourists without using tax dollars.  Monya Vanderpool says that's a win-win.  

"Gonna see a game and you get to help out your cops and corrections officers, actually that's not too bad of an idea!" said Vanderpool. 

Councilman Hillis says the resolution for the study will be discussed more at the next public safety committee meeting next week.