The Employee Relations & Public Safety Committee discussed proposed amendments to DeKalb County’s scrap‑tire ordinance on Wednesday and voted to defer the item to the Nov. 18 committee meeting so the law department can complete a review and staff can provide additional detailed redline language.

County staff presented a policy paper and suggested edits to Chapter 22, Article 4 of the DeKalb County Code that would (among other items) reduce the individual storage limit for scrap tires from 100 to 25 to align with state law, consolidate reporting and enforcement under the director of Code Compliance and Enforcement, and clarify penalties for continuing violations.

Marcus Allen, a county central‑staff presenter, told the committee the proposed local penalty language must comply with state law limits. He said county code violations are misdemeanors under state law and the local maximum penalty is $1,000 and up to 6 months imprisonment; the state has authority to prosecute higher penalties for egregious commercial dumping (statutory maximums cited in discussion include up to $25,000 fines and up to five years for certain state offenses).

Staff proposed the following notable changes: lower the personal storage threshold from 100 to 25 scrap tires (state law limit), retain the 3,000‑tire storage cap for businesses, update quarterly transport‑report responsibilities and move enforcement authority to Code Compliance and Enforcement, and add language clarifying that state or federal agencies may independently bring charges for large or interstate dumping incidents.

Commissioners asked for more information about enforcement capacity and business‑license controls and suggested that some immediate changes (such as transferring enforcement responsibility to Code Compliance) could be implemented quickly while broader state‑level penalty changes would require legislative action. The committee agreed staff should continue work with the county solicitor and return with law‑department redlines and a proposed timeline for enforcement and licensing changes.

Votes and formal action: The committee voted to defer the tire‑dumping ordinance amendments to Nov. 18 so the law department can complete review of the proposed redlines. The motion to defer carried by voice vote.

Why it matters: Illegal tire dumping has been a persistent countywide problem (staff noted 42 identified dumping locations since January) and involves cross‑jurisdictional hauling, manifesting and disposal chains. The proposed changes would align local code with state limits for residents, improve local enforcement responsibility and clarify prosecutorial pathways for larger, commercial cases.

Next steps: Staff will provide a revised, law‑department‑reviewed redline of Chapter 22, Article 4 and a recommended enforcement/licensing pathway at the Nov. 18 Employee Relations & Public Safety Committee meeting.