Drinking tickets in DeKalb contribute revenue to the city but the number of revenue-generating tickets depends on the manpower police can provide for patrols., said Lt. Jim Kayes of the DeKalb Police Department.

“We’ve had the same number of guys out there for the past few years,” Kayes said. “Reports of fights and other things takes officers away from the patrol.”

Other calls and reports around the city is not the only factor inhibiting officers from thoroughly patrolling DeKalb.

“We usually have four to six men in [the west Hillcrest Drive area] on a Friday and Saturday night,” said DeKalb Police Lt. Carl Leoni.

“Earlier in the evening we have a couple extra officers in the area but after 11 p.m., we anticipate more activity and put up to four extra men in the area,” Leoni said.

With Corn Fest last week, a few state police officers came to help keep things running smoothly, Leoni said.

Alcohol-related fines have changed in DeKalb in the last few years.

On June 9, 2003, the open-container fine was increased from $150 to $200, said DeKalb City Clerk Donna Johnson.

The city also increased the minimum fines for presenting fake identifications from $200 to $250, failure to carry identification from $150 to $250, and consumption or possession of alcohol by a minor from $150 to $200.

“We put up signs in all the bars specifically to advise people of the changes,” Johnson said.

While the city does receive revenue from liquor fines, they do not represent a significant amount of the city’s budget.

“The increase was not a money matter,” Johnson said. “It was a way to try and get people to stop [violating the ordinance].”

The fines do not cover the cost of enforcing the liquor laws, she said.

The collected fines are incorporated into city funds.

Open-container fines and all other fines, such as speeding or parking tickets, go into a general city operating fund, City Manager Mark Biernacki said.

The fund pays for city equipment, salaries and general operation, Biernacki said.

Of last year’s $25 million city operating fund, $700,000 came from fines, Biernacki said.

The 591 liquor violations in 2004 total $118,200.