UPDATE: Gwinnett BOC OKs SDS Deal; Cities Stand To Receive Millions
Several cities have called council meetings for Tuesday evening to vote on the settlement of the multimillion-dollar dispute.
Updated 3:20 p.m., Feb. 7, 2012
The Gwinnett County Board Of Commissioners approved Tuesday a Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) deal with cities in the Gwinnett Municipal Association, doing their part to end a multi-year, multimillion-dollar dispute.
Showing the fluidity of the situation, the agenda item on the SDS matter was added by the BOC after its afternoon meeting began.
"This is still active litigation," noted BOC Chairman Charlotte Nash after the commissioners' approval.
However, terms of the settlement strongly favor the cities. For instance terms call for Gwinnett to make a $5.1 million, one-time payment to the cities (excluding Lilburn) and $1.5 million yearly through 2018 to the cities (excluding Lilburn).
Lilburn would get $413,000 one time, and $120,000 yearly for seven years.
Nash said the 2012 tax rates will not be affected by the settlement. "We think it's good for everyone," Nash said.
The entire settlement still has to be approved by Judge David Barrett of Blairsville. Payments would begin in May, if the judge and cities approve.
Several cities have called special council meetings for Tuesday evening regarding a possible settlement of the multi-year, multimillion-dollar dispute. Suwanee, Loganville, Snellville, Lilburn, Duluth and Norcross officials are expected to meet Tuesday on the matter.
Also, a joint city-county ceremony is planned for Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. at the Historic Courthouse in Lawrenceville.
The SDS matter dates to 2009, when the county sued cities in the Gwinnett Municipal Association (GwMA). At issue is whether the cities should pay the county for services they do not use, such as police.
The "police service district" is a reference to the court ruling that was handed down in September by Barrett. That ruling strongly favored the cities in the dispute, and ordered Gwinnett County officlals to set up a special district to administer such functions as police.
Negotiations clearly had been progressing. GwMA officials had held conference calls, one as recently as last month, on the matter.
Also, notable fallout from the dispute is that police agencies in several Gwinnett cities and the Gwinnett Police can't use radar or laser to track speeders.
Harry Dorfman
12:43 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
OK, I'm naive - if I was incorrectly taxed and now the error has been corrected, why in the world is the money going to another government entity? They proved it was double taxation, so the city no more deserves the money than the county. That settlement needs to go to the citizens.
PTCornersGal
9:24 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
What does this mean for Peachtree Corners residents, which as of late, are no longer a part of Norcross? Clearly the citizens of PT Corners should be entitled to get back the portions we contributed over the course and use the settlement monies for the benefit of our community, right? Like Harry says, it was our money to begin with - we were over taxed. Either return it to the people or make sure it goes to the appropriate lot.
Judy Putnam
12:07 pm on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
It is the tax payers living inside the city limits of one of the county's 15 cities who were paying taxes for services that they were not using such as police service. Peachtree Corners residents, until the referendum passed, resided in the unincorporated area of Norcross, and not within the city limits of that town. The residents living within the city limits of Norcross were paying city taxes for police protection - and also paying county taxes for Gwinnett County police, a service which they did not use. Peachtree Corners residents only paid county taxes and are not affected by the SDS settlement.