Tyrone should withhold tax money from Fayette County if the town doesn't start getting its share of services, Councilman Ronnie Cannon suggested during last Thursday's meeting.

The surprising suggestion came during a presentation by town manager Barry Amos on the recent negotiations between the municipalities and the county on House Bill 489.

The bill requires cities and counties to work together on developing strategies to prevent the duplication of services.

Amos said the only sticking points remaining as local officials work to develop joint service delivery strategies are funding for the Sheriff's Department, public works, recreation and fire and emergency services.

As Amos told the council that negotiations were still ongoing to iron out the final details, Cannon unloaded on the county.

"The people of this town are being shortchanged about $300,000 from Fayette County. What if we withheld the money and took care of our own," he said.

Cannon said the only benefit the town really receives from the county is a little road work, along with animal control and the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service.

Cannon's comments came on the heels of the town's request and the county's subsequent denial of $25,000 to help expand the community's Shamrock Park.

County administrator Billy Beckett said he could not recommend the additional funding because that was not in the agreement between the town and the county when the county turned the park over to Tyrone last year.

"The county funded Shamrock Park for well over 15 years. Before we turned it over, we walked the property with them and made all the improvements they asked for," Beckett said.

Councilman Ray Bogenschutz agreed with Cannon and said $300,000 is a significant amount, especially since the town's budget is slightly over $1 million.

Councilman Paul Letourneau also weighed in on the issue and said he would like to see the county more responsive to the town's requests.

The council's comments surprised Fayette County Commission Chairman Harold Bost.

"That's news to me. Without specifically talking to Ronnie, I don't know what he's referring to," Bost said.

Letourneau suggested a face-to-face meeting with the Fayette County Board of Commissioners and Amos agreed with him.

"That's an issue that y'all will have to fix instead of staff doing it," he said.

Bost said the commission would be open to a meeting since he wants to keep an open dialogue going between the cities and county.

"We'll look at any issue they have," Bost said.

Concerning HB489, the council did approve the town manager's recommendation that the town ask for a 120-day extension on getting all of the agreements pertaining to the bill to the state Department of Community Affairs. The original deadline is July 1 and Amos believes everything will be completed by then, but he would like to have some leeway in case a dispute arises.