By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

In one of the few divided votes in the last year, the Tyrone town Council gave begrudging support to move along with discussion over a proposed county-wide impact fee.

The fee would go to fund the county’s new jail and has been the source of dissension as municipalities have struggled with details of the program.

Tyrone Councilman Ronnie Cannon has led the charge in not deciding on the impact fee until the county settles the municipalities’ questions about possible double taxation.

But Mayor Sheryl Lee, along with councilmen Lisa Richardson and Paul Letourneau, backed a proposal Thursday night to move talks forward on the impact fee.

Lee said the vote did not signal the town’s acceptance of any impact fee, but said the issue needed to move along with further discussions.

Cannon, along with Ray Bogenschutz voted against the proposal, and said there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Since the county is floating a bond to pay for the jail and using the impact fee to pay back the bonds, Cannon wondered what happens if too much money is collected.

“Would the county lower the millage rate?” he asked.

He also pointed out that there was no federal mandate to build a new facility.

But in the end, the town agreed to continue talks on the matter.