Wednesday, September 19, 2001
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Wednesday, September 19, 2001 |
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Tax equity dispute delayed again By DAVE
HAMRICK
A court hearing on the dispute over tax equity between Fayette County and its cities, scheduled for next Tuesday, has been postponed. Senior Judge Stephen E. Boswell of Jonesboro, assigned to the case last month after Fayette Judge Ben Miller recused himself, has scheduled an Oct. 3 pretrial conference with lawyers for all sides. Arguments in the case aren't expected to be heard at that meeting. Its main purpose is to set out the sequence of events for the court hearing, and to schedule a date, said County Attorney Bill McNally. Lawyers for the three cities involved in the dispute Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Tyrone are asking that the judge appoint a special mediator to deal with the cities' contention that their residents are overtaxed for the services they receive from the county. County attorneys will argue that there's no need to appoint a mediator and will ask Boswell to dismiss the case. State law requires that cities and counties develop joint service delivery strategies that ensure that taxpayers aren't double taxed taxed by both city and county for the same government services. Leaders in the three cities have maintained that their residents pay several million dollars a year more in taxes than they receive in services from Fayette. County leaders argue that, if anything, the reverse is true. Talks aimed at ironing out the dispute broke down late last year, and cities filed the request for mandatory mediation prescribed in the law. But Fayette's attorneys filed the motion to dismiss that request, pointing out that the county and cities have filed a joint service delivery strategy that has been approved by the state, and that agreement expires in several months. The tax equity dispute should be taken up as part of hammering out a new strategy once the old one expires, they argue. "Why do it twice?" said County Attorney Bill McNally
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