Fayette County will start charging a higher fee for residents who are late paying their stormwater utility bills.

The Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 on Jan. 14 to update the ordinance.

Environmental Management Director Vanessa Birrell told the board that the change is needed to discourage delinquent accounts. Instead of paying a 10 percent penalty, all customers making late payments will now be charged a $25 fine.

Birrell said the county will continue to work with customers to set terms for paying off larger delinquent accounts. Data from 2015 showed that 5,082 stormwater accounts were overdue, but that about half owed less than $25.

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Jo'wan Bellamy taught in the GNETS program for 17 years and recently transferred to Atlanta’s new behavioral program at Crawford Long Middle School. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com