It

will be at least another month or two before

Fayette's county and municipal leaders start to

get down to brass tax on the tax inequity

question.

County

Commission Chairman Harold Bost threw out some

more numbers for his colleagues to crunch in last

week's meeting of government officials.

After

hearing from Bost, members of FUTURE (Fayette

United Team to Use Resources Efficiently) asked

Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox to update his

two-year-old analysis of the county/city tax

picture for future discussion.

That

will take a few weeks, after which city and

county finance professionals will go over the

figures as well, Bost said this week.

"It's

not a simple process," said Bost.

County

and city governments recently pooled resources

and hired a consultant to study the tax structure

and services of the cities and county after

Tyrone Councilman Ronnie Cannon voiced the

opinion that the town's residents were being

shortchanged in county-wide services, and

officials in Peachtree City and Fayetteville

later joined in the refrain.

After

studying the services and tax structures of all

the governments involved, consultant Steve

Burnett said city residents are indeed overtaxed,

mainly for services from the Sheriff's, Public

Works and Recreation departments.

The

alleged inequity amounts to about eight tenths of

a mill in property taxes, or about $57 in taxes

on a $200,000 home.

But

in last week's FUTURE meeting, Bost said the

consultant's study was limited to a few county

services and only the basic types of taxes.

For

instance, Bost said, when lawbreakers are fined

in county courts, the fines and court fees are

paid to the city where the arrest was made, even

though the costs of running the court and jail

(if any jail time is involved) are paid by the

county.

He

submitted figures that he said show that city

residents receive more than their fair share of

services for franchise taxes, beverage taxes, the

insurance premium tax, permit and inspection

fees, business licenses, zoning fees, emergency

medical services and the county property transfer

tax.

The

county tax commissioner collects no charge for

billing and collecting municipal taxes, Bost

added.

"These

are clean, clear-cut credits that should go to

the county residents" in deciding tax

equity, Bost said.

But

he added, "I really don't anticipate having

to sit down at the very end and write a check.

Relations between the county and city are the

best they've been in recent history."

Once

the city and county leaders agree on how much

inequity actually exists, they may be able to

negotiate joint services and special tax

districts as a way to even things out, rather

than having to increase taxes in the

unincorporated areas and reducing them in the

cities.

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