Fayetteville officials have

filed for voluntary dismissal "without prejudice" of the city's

petition for mediation concerning the tax equity debate between Fayette

County and its cities.

The city "believed when

it joined in the tax equity process that there existed substantial tax

inequity in favor of Fayette County, supported by city taxpayers,"

Mayor Kenneth Steele said Monday. "Unfortunately, after two and one-half

months of unavailing court-ordered mediation ... those substantial tax

inequities still exist."

Steele commented that the parties

have conducted mediation for some two and one-half months, during which

county and Fayetteville officials met face-to-face only once. The negotiations

were conducted secretly, per a judge's order.

"After a sincere effort

to reach agreement, the mediation process has failed," he said. "The

city of Fayetteville is no longer interested in continuing the process

or resorting to further potentially divisive litigation even though the

Georgia Legislature contemplated that the Superior Courts would be the

final arbiter of these tax inequity issues."

Bringing another controversial

city-county debate to a close, the Fayetteville City Council also approved

a jail inmate agreement with the county under which Fayetteville will

initially pay $43.70 per day to have inmates housed at the county jail.

This is the same agreement approved last week by Peachtree City.

Although the agreement was

approved, it "fails to recognize the Fayetteville taxpayer's substantial

contribution to the county's budget," Steele said, adding that the

geographic location of a law breaker's apprehension, whether within a

city or the unincorporated county, "has no rational bearing on which

taxpayers should be responsible for the cost of the resulting incarceration.

That cost should be borne equally by every citizen in Fayette County because

every citizen in Fayette County benefits equally."

The City Council met for a

special called meeting Monday night, which began with an executive session

to discuss litigation. After the regular session was convened again, Councilman

Bill Talley moved to authorize the mayor to sign the jail agreement, and

that motion was seconded by Al Hovey-King.

The jail agreement vote passed

3-2, with Talley, Hovey-King and Glenn Brewer in favor. Larry Dell and

Walt White voted against the motion.

A motion for dismissal of the

mediation was made by Hovey-King and seconded by Brewer. It also passed

3-2, with Hovey-King, Brewer and White in favor. Dell and Talley voted

against it.

Those were the only items on

Monday night's agenda. The council's regular meeting is scheduled for

tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall.

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