New fee expected to bring $500,000 into DeKalb coffers

The DeKalb County Commission recently enacted a new fee that utilities must pay when they do underground work, in a bid to cover county costs to clean up that work.

The county had long assumed financial responsibility for cleaning up utility cuts in the right-of-way, including new landscaping or paving work.

The $150 application fee, and smaller fees specific to the type of repairs such as installing a pole or cutting into pavement, should recoup most of those costs, officials said.