VALDOSTA —
Following a day and a half of meetings with a mediator over LOST, the local option sales tax, Lowndes County and the five cities are no closer to an agreement.
The meetings are closed to the public and the press, and the discussions are confidential, so none of the parties involved are allowed to comment on specific issues from the meeting itself, but can comment on the issue in general.
Following the end of the meeting Wednesday afternoon, the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners presented a letter to the mayors of Remerton, Dasher, Valdosta, Hahira and Lake Park, stating that the commission is reiterating its offer from April to keep the percentages each government receives the same that it has been the past 10 years. Under the proposal, Lowndes County would continue to receive 58 percent and the five cities would split the remaining 42 percent.
“I have already signed the Certification of Distribution,” said Lowndes County Commission Chairman Ashley Paulk. “All the cities have to do is sign it and this will all be over. If they don’t, they have to take us to court, and all I’m trying to do is avoid unnecessary fees for litigation.”
Paulk said he took the measure of preparing the certificate and presenting it to the cities, as when the session ended Wednesday, the county was asked to sign a document by the City of Valdosta that he refused to sign.
“I wasn’t going to sign a letter that was not factual. They wanted us to issue a joint statement saying that everyone acted in good faith, but they didn’t, and it includes information that I don’t believe to be accurate,” Paulk said.
The City of Valdosta public information office released a statement Wednesday afternoon, signed by the five mayors but not the county. The statement reads, “Under new Georgia law, the issue will now be resolved by both parties submitting a best and final offer to a Judge. The Judge will choose one offer or the other. This will bring a final decision to the issue.”
Walter Elliott, the attorney representing Lowndes County, said Wednesday that the Georgia statute states that any of the parties “may” file a petition with Superior Court, but it is not automatic.
“They have a specific timeframe and deadlines for each step of the process, and the petition has to be made post-mediation but within 30 days following the 60th day of the mediation process.”
Elliott said the process is not automatic, and if the cities choose to sign the Certificate of Distribution sent by the county Wednesday, the case does not have to go to court and would be resolved at that point.
Paulk said, “I wanted to give them the opportunity to sign this and save the taxpayers money.”
A lawsuit was filed earlier this year in Douglas County by the City of Douglasville challenging the constitutionality of the “baseball arbitration” clause that was added to the statue in 2010, which limits the judge to an either/or decision on the two “best and final” offers presented.
“That suit hasn’t been decided yet and it’s too soon to tell what impact it may have,” Elliott said.
The LOST issue, as it stands now, will either be decided by the municipalities signing the Certificate of Distribution, agreeing to maintain the current distribution amounts, or one of the entities may file a petition to have the issue heard in Superior Court. Otherwise, LOST will expire on Dec. 31 of this year.
The one-cent sales tax’s initial agreement went into effect in the 1990s. LOST does not require a citizens vote for implementation, while SPLOST (a special purpose local option sales tax) does. However, the governments must decide on the distribution of the proceeds from the tax and file the joint Certificate of Distribution with the Georgia State Revenue Commissioner in order for LOST to continue.
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