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Mayor: Roads SPLOST isn’t only tax issue with county

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The spat over the proposed countywide SPLOST for roads isn’t the only place where Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the Fayette County Board of Commissioners.

The county has proposed giving 35 percent of the proceeds to be split with the county’s municipalities, with the remaining take going to county road projects.

Brown is upset over several other taxation issues which cause city residents to pay more in county taxes than they receive in services, he said.

For example, the county commission agreed to pay Peachtree City $150,000 for recreation this year, but the city contends it should receive $450,000 instead. Not only that, but the county will issue those payments monthly instead of in one lump sum.

“They have $35 million in their reserve fund,” Brown said. “That’s more than I have in our annual city budget.”

He argues the county could make a lump sum payment instead of doing it on a monthly basis.

Brown also noted that Peachtree City has lost $2.45 million over 10 years that has been paid to the county in taxes for emergency services, even though the city has its own ambulance service and fire department.

The county’s SPLOST vote came days before a new state law took affect that gives cities more power in negotiating SPLOST tax distributions. Brown claims the county could have waited a little longer to abide by the new law and make the process more fair for everyone involved.

The county’s recent legal spats with sheriff Randall Johnson are another good example of the way the county, particularly commission chairman Greg Dunn, are handling issues.

“It’s almost like he’s leading us down the path of mutually assured destruction: ‘If I can’t get my way, everybody goes down,’” Brown said.