By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer

Officials of Fayette County and its cities may soon resolve the burning question of whether you're receiving all the services you're paying for.

In a meeting Jan. 6 at 8 a.m., Fayette's FUTURE Committee hopes to choose a consultant to research services provided and taxes collected by the county, Peachtree City, Fayetteville, Tyrone, Brooks and Woolsey.

FUTURE (Fayette United Team to Utilize Resources Effectively) has been discussing the question since last spring, when city leaders began suggesting that their residents were shortchanged when it came to county services.

The committee is composed of elected and appointed officials from the county and all its municipalities, and is charged with finding ways that cities and county can cooperate to improve efficiency and save taxpayers' money. It was already functioning months before a new state law was passed in 1998 — House Bill 489 — requiring that all cities and counties in the state undertake the same exercise.

Consulting firm DMG Maximus presented its credentials during a FUTURE committee meeting last week, and another firm, Governmental Solutions Inc., made a presentation at a previous meeting.

“We've revised and refined the scope of work that we want to have done,” said Joe Morton, assistant city manager for Peachtree City, who is spearheading the search for a consultant. The two consultants will use the revised scope of work information to submit specific price proposals that will be available at the Jan. 6 meeting.

“I think everyone's pretty confident with the qualifications of both companies, so it'll probably come down to price,” said Morton.

Once a consultant is chosen, that company will study five areas of service: police, public works, fire and emergency services, library services and recreation. Once it's determined whether there are any inequities in those services to county and city residents, the consultant firm will present a report to FUTURE, which then will likely make a recommendation to the county and city governments.

Morton said if inequities are found, the group probably will recommend changes in tax structure or service delivery, or both.

“Each entity will then have to sign off on that,” he added.

Under HB489, the county and cities are required to submit their plan for service delivery to the state, and state agencies have given Fayette a deadline of Dec. 31, 2000, to complete that work.