committee of officials from Fayette County and

its municipalities hopes to choose a consultant

next month to determine whether county or city

residents are being taxed unfairly.

"We

feel like the cities subsidize the county

operations to a certain extent, and the county

feels like the county residents subsidize the

cities," said Fayetteville Mayor Mike Wheat

this week.

Members

of FUTURE (Fayette United Team to Use Resources

Efficiently) last week heard proposals from two

consultants with expertise in tax equity, said

Wheat, and plans are to hear from one more

consultant at the group's next meeting before

choosing from among the three.

When

that next meeting will be is still up in the air,

said county manager Billy Beckett. "We hope

schedules right now," he said.

FUTURE

originally was formed to discuss ways the county

and cities could cooperate to bring services to

local residents less expensively and more

efficiently. Its mission became more urgent last

year when the state legislature passed House Bill

489, a new state law requiring that all counties

and cities in the state come up with plans to

combine services and cooperate where possible.

When

elected officials in Tyrone and Peachtree City

went public earlier this year with claims that

their residents are paying more to Fayette County

in taxes than they receive in services, the

question was referred to FUTURE for discussion.

The

group last month decided to look for a consultant

who could provide insight, and county and city

leaders vowed to correct any inequities uncovered

in a thorough study of the tax structure here.