Discarding tires along Port Arthur’s byways may get costlier for offenders, starting Saturday.

The City Council passed an amended ordinance this month that increases the penalty to $100 per tire for improper tire disposal, an action aimed at keeping Port Arthur from becoming an unsightly dumping ground and one which calls for the registration of “certain tire businesses and tire haulers” within the city.

That ordinance was advertised Thursday and Friday and becomes effective Saturday. It’s a welcome addition to Port Arthur’s options for fighting illegal disposals.

Under the amended ordinance, each tire illegally dumped will represent a separate offense, city leaders decided. Initially, the penalty was set at $50 per tire, but council members at their May 8 meeting seemed determined to make the penalty sting for those who get caught. It should.

At $100 per tire, the pain should be as profound for offenders as it is for Port Arthur people who see the ugliness left behind by tire dumping.

A brief discussion among city leaders came in the wake of a report from Darlene Thomas-Pierre, director of inspections and code compliance. At least one council member grimaced at the suggestion of imposing the hundred-dollar fine.

But the sheer volume of discarded tires might have changed minds. Thomas-Pierre said city crews had picked up 1,496 illegally dumped tires over the previous three weeks. Those crews had combed only part of the city, picking up discarded tires.

“Dumping is illegal. You cannot dump tires on roads, in alleys, on streets or on thoroughfares,” she said during her presentation. You cannot do that, starting Saturday, without the city exacting a steeper penalty for it.

Interim City Manager Harvey Robinson said picking up discarded tires is “hard work” for those who do it. We don’t doubt that. The wiser course is to get to the sources of what has become a citywide problem.

Step one was passage of this ordinance, which gives sharper teeth to city enforcement. Port Arthur already gives residents the opportunity to dispose of up to four tires legally. Tire stores usually charge a nominal fee for disposal of old tires when they sell new ones. There is no excuse for dumping tires.

Beyond the unsightliness of abandoned tires is the health hazard, and Port Arthur must never lose sight of that. Abandoned tires are likely breeding spots for mosquitos that carry dangerous or deadly viruses.

That was why the City Council in August 2012 addressed the issue of discarded tires. Many coastal or Southeast Texas counties have tested positively for West Nile virus in the past; the carriers for that scourge are mosquitoes that breed easily in tires.

So there’s more to dumping tires than the visual unpleasantness. It threatens your health and your family’s health.