Speeders beware: Holly Springs police may soon start charging a "fuel fee" for every moving violation they issue.

Monday night, the City Council of this small Cherokee County municipality will consider letting its police department charge a $12 fee to avert a budget deficit brought about by rising fuel prices.

According to City Manager Robert Rokovitz, police patrol car use has burned through 53 percent of the $38,050 budgeted this year for fuel in only five months.

If gas prices continue to climb, he said, the funds will be gone by late November – one month short.

"We're halfway through the year, and we're slightly more than halfway through the budget," Rokovitz said.

If passed, fuel fees will be assessed to fines before state-mandated charges are applied.

Holly Springs' city attorney has assured officials that municipalities can raise fines by up to $1,000, Rokovitz said. The fuel fee won't come close.

Rokovitz and Police Chief Ken Ball said they hope the measure will pass so they can avoid digging into funds allotted elsewhere.

"Why should the people who [violate] the system the most not pay more for the system? Why should the burden be continually on the taxpayer?" Ball said. "If you're running 80 m.p.h. and you bust a red light, you'll have two fees to pay."

Ball estimated that lawlessness accounts for 70 percent of his department's costs; to him, the fuel fees are justified. "Pizza Hut and Dominoes are charging a fuel fee; why not the government?" he said.

Police departments in several other area communities are considering the fuel surcharge idea, Ball said. Efforts were unsuccessful Friday to reach spokesmen for those departments.

Revenue generated by the surcharge will go into the city's general fund rather than the police department budget, Doing that, Rokovitz explained, prevents agencies from seeking inappropriate allocations, such as writing more tickets to make up for budget deficits.