Wednesday, August 1, 2001

Judge appointed in tax equity case A senior Superior Court Judge has been assigned to decide whether residents of Fayette's cities are overtaxed by the county. Senior Judge Stephen E. Boswell of Jonesboro was assigned to the case last week. The case was previously in the hands of Chief Superior Court Judge Ben J. Miller, who ruled that a judge outside Fayette County should preside over the case. The governments of Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Tyrone filed the action, a request for mandatory mediation of their tax dispute with the county. City leaders maintain their residents pay more in taxes to the county than they receive in services, while county leaders say taxes and services are equitably distributed throughout the county. State law provides for mediation, voluntary or mandatory, of such disputes, but before Boswell deals directly with the dispute itself, county attorneys will argue that the case should be thrown out because county and cities already have a service delivery agreement. The time to mediate the dispute, they say, is when that agreement expires and a new one must be negotiated. From Staff Reports What do you think of this story? Click here to send a message to the editor. Back to the News Home Page| Back to the top of the page