Overspeeding drivers who pass through Holly Spring in Georgia would be issued not only a speeding ticket, but also a $12 fuel surcharge.

The extra fee was approved by the city council to cover the extra fuel cost used in chasing overspeeding drivers, said Holly Springs Police Chief Ken Ball. The fuel surcharge takes effect July 1 to augment the department's budget which had been eaten up by escalating fuel prices.

The fuel surcharge is expected to raise $19,500 to $26,000 annually for the city. Ball said it would be abolished if fuel price would go down below $3 a gallon.

Ball told the USA Today, "I was hearing that Delta (Air Lines), pizza deliverers and florists were adding fuel charges to their services, and I thought, why not police departments?"

The capital city of Atlanta would follow Holly Springs in tacking a $12 fuel surcharge after the City Council, on a 13-0 vote, approved a similar fee ranging from $10 to $15, said councilman C.T. Martin.

And as word gets around that two Georgian cities collect the levy, other cities are expected to follow their example.

Soaring fuel prices had affected the effectiveness of police and fire departments across the U.S. Some police departments cope up by trading their patrol cars for models which give more miles to a gallon, while other officers are sometimes faced with the dilemma of responding to a crime or saving their fuel to go to work the next day.