Negotiations

are progressing between representatives of the Development Authority of

Peachtree City and the City Council for a new agreement that would likely

reduce the authority's share of the city's hotel-motel tax funds.

The authority

currently receives $265,000 a year in hotel-motel tax funds to help subsidize

operating the city's tennis center and amphitheater. But some authority

members are worried the city wants to put both facilities under management

of a new authority.

"This

issue is about power and control," said development authority chairman

Tate Godfrey.

The tennis

center and amphitheater have been used to host economic development-related

events and industrial prospects that visit Fayette County.

Losing the

tennis center and amphitheater as economic development tools would hurt

the authority's mission, Godfrey said. He also questioned whether the

authority would get enough funds for economic development.

The current

sticking point in the negotiations is that council officials want to have

a 30-day clause to terminate the agreement that can be activated by the

council. The current agreement requires both parties to agree before the

document can be changed or terminated; some city council members have

contended the current agreement is illegal.

Mayor Steve

Brown said the authority's previous hotel-motel tax agreements have had

similar 30-day "out" clauses for the city, and he didn't see

why it was a problem. The clause provides an accountability to the taxpayers,

he said.

Some authority

members have said a 30-day termination clause wouldn't give them a chance

to meet the council's edict to work on making the tennis center and amphitheater

self-sufficient. The matter was discussed at Monday's authority meeting.

Godfrey said

he wants council to give the group at least two full years to become self-sufficient,

but with the 30-day unilateral out clause, the city could terminate the

deal at any time, he added.

Godfrey said

he was encouraged, however, that representatives from both sides have

had three separate meetings on the issue to hammer out an agreement instead

of the city council possibly taking the matter to court.

"If they

want to take the facilities back over, they're going to," Godfrey

said. "But if they are, they ought to be in the best shape they can

be in."

Authority member

Scott Bradshaw said he felt the authority's current agreement was solid

"and if they (the City Council) thought they had a chance of going

to the courts to void this, they'd have done it."

New authority

member Scott Formel said the amphitheater and tennis center play a role

in helping local companies keep employees here because they increase the

quality of life in Peachtree City.

"How else

can we make it better for business?" Formel said.

Brown told

The Citizen in an interview Wednesday that he felt the authority would

still be able to use the facilities even if the management was transferred

later to a sports and entertainment authority.

Brown said

he wants the Development Authority to focus on "more traditional

economic development." Declines in industrial ad valorem taxes make

economic development even more crucial, he added.

"They

did a great job as an incubator with the help of government subsidies

to build an amphitheater and tennis center program," Brown said.

"But at some point of time ... you have to let the thing fly."

If the city

changes the management at the tennis center and amphitheater, the budget

will certainly be cut, Brown said.

Authority member

Doug Warner, however, contends that it would cost the city more to operate

the tennis center and amphitheater with a separate authority. If the matter

were studied, and using a separate authority to manage the facilities

was in the best interest of the citizens, Warner said he felt everyone

on the authority would be okay with the concept.

Virgil Christian,

executive director of the authority, said the authority has been doing

plenty for economic development, including the attraction of Clayton State

College and University to open a higher education center.

The education

center will be key in helping support local industries and growing small

businesses, Christian said.

"It took

14 years to get that in place," Godfrey remarked.

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