Fayette County

officials will "keep plugging away at it" in the wake of Tyrone's

refusal last week to go along with the latest version of impact fees for

a new county jail, said assistant County Attorney Dennis Davenport.

Davenport will

address the Fayetteville City Council in its work session tonight.

Impact fees

are charged to developers to help defray the cost of new county services

and facilities made necessary by their developments, as a way of holding

down property taxes for current property owners. By state law, the fees

can be assessed only to cover the cost of a given service or facility

that is directly attributable to the new construction.

County commissioners

voted last May to approve charging the fees for the jail in principle,

but taking the concept from that point to reality has been no easy task,

as the approval was tied to a stipulation that all Fayette's cities must

agree to collect the fees within their borders in order for the process

to move forward.

Numerous meetings

have been conducted in which city officials' objections to various aspects

of the impact fee plan have been woven into several new versions. In the

latest version, developers would pay $794.12 for each new home built,

$8,663.12 for each new retail business over 50,000 square feet in size,

$4,331.56 for retail businesses under Tyrone officials declined to approve

that plan because it doesn't contain a third retail category for businesses

under 10,000 square feet. Small mom-and-pop stores shouldn't have to pay

as much as 50,000-sq. ft. stores, they say.

Davenport said

retail stores bring more crime and add to the jail's population more than

homes or industries, but added, "I told them if they've got information

showing that there should be a third category, then please share it with

me."

Meanwhile,

he said, "We're having a positive outlook that we can get things

resolved."

Peachtree City's

government has approved the new plan. Brooks will discuss it next week.