Wednesday, October 31, 2001
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Wednesday, October 31, 2001 |
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Tax equity dispute headed to court Thursday By DAVE
HAMRICK
That on-again/off-again tax equity lawsuit hearing is on again for this Thursday. The dispute involves substantial sums of money. Some estimates hold that Peachtree City residents are paying just under $2 million more for services than they receive from Fayette County, though the county disputes the claim, and similar estimates in the hundreds of thousands of dollars exist for Fayetteville and Tyrone. Following a recent pretrial conference, senior Judge Stephen E. Boswell of Jonesboro set the hearing for Thursday at 4 p.m. in Fayette Superior Court. Boswell was assigned to the case recently after Fayette Judge Ben Miller recused himself. County attorneys will argue for dismissal of a request for mandatory mediation from Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Tyrone. If their motion to dismiss is denied, Boswell will appoint a mediator to seek an arbitration of the dispute. Leaders in the three cities involved Fayetteville, Peachtree City and Tyrone claim that their residents are paying more in taxes to Fayette County than they receive in services. County leaders say if anything, the opposite is true. Under recent state law, counties and cities are required to develop joint strategies for delivery of service to avoid double taxation and reduce the cost of government, and the statute also provides for mandatory mediation when counties and cities can't agree. But county leaders argue that Fayette and its cities already approved a joint service delivery strategy almost two years ago, and mediation of the tax dispute should come only after that agreement expires. That will be in a matter of months. "Why do it twice?" said County Attorney Bill McNally. But city leaders point out that the county and cities failed to reach consensus in key areas that involve the tax equity dispute, and the formal agreement has specific language that calls for continued negotiation.
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