Cities, County Butt Heads Over Cost of Government
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Gwinnett County and its cities have passed a deadline for renegotiating an intergovernmental service agreement that is, according to its legislative mandate, intended to “minimize inefficiencies resulting from duplication of services and competition between local governments and to provide a mechanism to resolve disputes over local government service delivery, funding equity and land use.”
Failure to reach an agreement means that Gwinnett’s governments could become ineligible to receive state funding and permits.
I have no specific details about why agreement cannot be reached and my understanding is surely simplistic, but the issues have been on the table for years. For one, the cities have long believed that its residents should not be charged the same tax rate as those who live in unincorporated Gwinnett. City residents should not, for example “pay twice” for police services when only the city provides the service within its boundaries.
It isn’t that simple, argues the county. For one, city residents do benefit from county police services in numerous ways, even though it might not be a county car that shows up at your doorstep. Some cities benefit inordinately from the physical location of services—some fire stations and libraries, for example, are found within a city’s limits and arguably serve more city residents than county folks.
The question of level of taxation is a legitimate one. The residents of Snellville or Lawrenceville are probably much less reliant on county services than are those of Grayson or Auburn. Any reduction in the tax rate that the county charges one group of residents will certainly result in a higher rate for others, and establishing a different millage rate for each city would greatly complicate the tax process.
The county is seeking arbitration to try to resolve the disagreement before the state sanctions kick in.
“This is the most severe set of sanctions of any program we administer,” said Mike Gleaton, assistant commissioner with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
Besides the financial impact, Gleaton said, city and county departments cannot obtain permits to expand water or sewer systems or extend or repair water or sewer lines that run on state right-of-way.
Deadline could cost cities, Gwinnett big bucks | ajc.com
