A court hearing

on the dispute over tax equity between Fayette County and its cities,

scheduled for next Tuesday, has been postponed.

Senior Judge

Stephen E. Boswell of Jonesboro, assigned to the case last month after

Fayette Judge Ben Miller recused himself, has scheduled an Oct. 3 pretrial

conference with lawyers for all sides.

Arguments in

the case aren't expected to be heard at that meeting. Its main purpose

is to set out the sequence of events for the court hearing, and to schedule

a date, said County Attorney Bill McNally.

Lawyers for

the three cities involved in the dispute Peachtree City, Fayetteville

and Tyrone are asking that the judge appoint a special mediator to deal

with the cities' contention that their residents are overtaxed for the

services they receive from the county.

County attorneys

will argue that there's no need to appoint a mediator and will ask Boswell

to dismiss the case.

State law requires

that cities and counties develop joint service delivery strategies that

ensure that taxpayers aren't double taxed taxed by both city and county

for the same government services.

Leaders in

the three cities have maintained that their residents pay several million

dollars a year more in taxes than they receive in services from Fayette.

County leaders argue that, if anything, the reverse is true.

Talks aimed

at ironing out the dispute broke down late last year, and cities filed

the request for mandatory mediation prescribed in the law.

But Fayette's

attorneys filed the motion to dismiss that request, pointing out that

the county and cities have filed a joint service delivery strategy that

has been approved by the state, and that agreement expires in several

months. The tax equity dispute should be taken up as part of hammering

out a new strategy once the old one expires, they argue.

"Why do

it twice?" said County Attorney Bill McNally