It appears there will be a

new LOST for Fayette County after all.

At a special called meeting

yesterday morning, the Peachtree City Council approved a proposal from

Fayette County that will change the distribution of the county's Local

Option Sales Tax. Under the new agreement which still must be voted on

would increase to 50 percent over a three-year period beginning in 2003.

Currently the county gets 47.5

percent of the LOST revenues while the remainder is split by Fayette's

municipalities based on their respective populations. The new deal locks

in that figure for 2003, with an increase in the county's take to 48.5

percent in 2004 and to 50 percent in 2005.

The City Council unanimously

approved the county's phase-in proposal at its special meeting Tuesday.

While Mayor Steve Brown lamented that he had hoped to work out a better

deal, "the current set of circumstances don't give us that option."

Other council members said

they appreciated the county's willingness to work with them in the negotiation

process.

"I think this is in the

best interests of Peachtree City," said councilwoman Annie McMenamin,

who commended current interim city manager Colin Halterman and former

city manager Jim Basinger for their work on the negotiations.

Councilman Dan Tennant thanked

fellow councilman Steve Rapson for breaking down the county's proposal

in a way that the rest of the council could understand.

The other municipalities in

Fayette Fayetteville, Tyrone and Brooks are not required to sign off on

the LOST deal.

After the meeting, Rapson said

he hoped the City Council and County Commission could continue working

together as they have with the tax inequity lawsuit, the jail impact fee

agreement and now the LOST distribution.

"To their credit, they

have followed through on the promises they made," Rapson said.

While the new LOST distribution

will reduce Peachtree City's share of LOST revenues, those revenues are

projected to continue increasing over the next 10 years.

In a memo to council about

the county's proposal and the city's two counter proposals on the LOST,

city finance director Paul Salvatore noted that while the city's population

is expected to remain fairly constant over the next 10 years "while

the county's population is expected to grow to at least the 50 percent

they would end up with according to their proposed formula."

The two counterproposals offered

over the 10-year period of the county's LOST proposal.

Fayette County Commission Chairman

Greg Dunn was pleased to learn of the agreement. "I think this is

going to be a lot fairer for everybody,' he said. Dunn added the phase-in

proposal gives the cities tome to adjust figures in upcoming years. He

also added that if sales tax revenues increase, all the municipalities

will benefit.

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