LEE COUNTY, GA (WALB) -
As Lee County citizens shop, they may not be aware of the controversy brewing over the allocation of their sales tax dollars.
"It's renegotiated every two years, normally based on the population, but this time the assembly is allowing other factors to be involved," said Leesburg Mayor Jim Quinn.
"We had a census in 2010 and we got the results this year, and it's time for us to renegotiate that split." said Lee County Commissioner Rick Muggridge.
The local sales tax collected in Lee County is split between three local governments.
In past years, Lee County received 72%, Leesburg got 17%, and Smithville received 11%.
"The way they split it in 1975, is the way they split it today," Muggridge said.
County leaders say it's time for a change. They say since most of the money is spent in unincorporated Lee County and that's where most of the people live, and the county should get 89%.
"Since the county is providing a majority of the services, I would lean more towards a majority county split," Muggridge said.
"So this negotiation the county is wanting to reduce our portion and increase their portion," said Quinn, who says leaving Leesburg with 9% of tax collections and Smithville with just 2% goes too far, and would hurt their services such as police protection.
"We would have to reduce services or increase taxes to provide those services with that huge loss of revenue."
"Clearly when we get services delivered within the county even within the city limits of both municipalities the majority of the services are delivered by county employees," Muggridge said. "And I am very optimistic that we can work this out and come to an agreement without having to go to court."
All sides hope to negotiate an agreement soon. If not, it could be left to a judge to decide.
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