Wednesday, February 20, 2002
|
Wednesday, February 20, 2002 |
|
Dunn: County would like to continue meeting, 'but it's up to the cities' By DAVE HAMRICK
It's over. Fayette County and its three largest cities have failed to reach agreement after 60 days in court-ordered mediation of their tax equity dispute, and two of the cities must now decide whether to file a lawsuit to settle the matter. Monday night, the Fayetteville City Council settled the question as far as its participation by voting to end its litigation of the matter. Peachtree City and Tyrone had not taken any action one way or the other at press time Tuesday. Officials for Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Tyrone claim their residents pay more in taxes to Fayette than they receive in services. County leaders dispute the claim, saying city residents receive more than their fair share of services for the county taxes they pay. After almost three years of trying to resolve the dispute in joint sessions that included the county and all three cities, late last year the cities filed a request for mandatory mediation under a state law requiring cooperation between cities and counties. Visiting Judge Stephen Boswell granted the request and ordered the mediation, which began in December behind closed doors in compliance with his order. Boswell also granted an extension to keep the mediation going through Feb. 15, but that deadline has now passed. County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn said Monday it's up to the cities what happens next. "I would love it if they would all withdraw from the lawsuit and go on meeting," he said. "I would love to sit down with each of the cities and talk about their problems." Previous joint sessions may have been a mistake, Dunn added. "It doesn't do me any good to talk to someone in Peachtree City about Fayetteville's problems," he said. "We're prepared to go forward with litigation if that's what they want," Dunn added, "but I'm really hopeful that things will work out."
|
||