DALTON, Ga. — Three years ago, a state report found that $340 million a year in fees charged by the state government end up in general fund coffers.

“You have all these Republicans who run for office saying they won’t raise taxes,” said former Dalton mayor David Pennington. “And then, they get into office and rather than say ‘We are going to raise taxes this much, they create all these fees.'”

Pennington spoke Tuesday at a meeting of the League of Women Voters of the Dalton Area on the topic of government transparency. He said diverting fees from their intended use is common at all levels of government. He cited the $1 fee assessed on each new tire sold in the state. That fee is supposed to go into the state’s Solid Waste Trust Fund. But Pennington noted that during a 10-year period starting in 2003, 64 percent of that money, some $50 million, actually went into the state’s general fund.

League President Helen Crawford said the group invited Pennington, who ran for governor in 2014, to speak because they wanted to find out more about how government diverts fees.

“We became interested (earlier this year) when the Dalton City Council was looking at creating a fee to fund stormwater control,” she said. “We were concerned there was nothing in the law that would mandate those fees go to their intended purpose and not go into the general fund.”

The City Council passed a law allowing the Public Works Committee to set such fees, but after a number of local industry leaders expressed concerns, that committee put the fees on hold and the city continues to fund stormwater control from its general budget.

Pennington said one reason government is not more transparent is that incumbents, especially in this area, rarely face opposition.

“If you want change, you have to throw the bums out,” he said.

League board member Jevin Jensen said the lack of competition is a concern.

“I do understand why people are reluctant to run. You have to put your life on hold, and when incumbents are challenged, it seems like they always win. That’s why I appreciate those who do run and wish we had more of them,” said Jensen, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners District 4 seat two years ago.