TOWNS & THE LAW
Key Decision Expected on Local Government Partnerships Sometime around publication of this edition of Georgia’s Cities, perhaps even before publication, a very significant Georgia Court of Appeals decision will likely be issued which could guide the future of Service Delivery Strategy negotiations throughout the state. THE SERVICE DELIVERY STRATEGY ACT WAS passed in 1997 with a stated purpose of minimizing “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.” In other words, the law was passed as an effort to foster partnerships and cooperation between cities and counties statewide concerning the provision of services to the people of the state.
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The case currently in the court system which could have a profound impact on future negotiations is City of Winder v. Barrow County. The first issue in the litigation relates to whether the services’ geography or availability is the key factor in determining whether city residents should pay for unincorporated area services. The trial court held, and the counties continue to argue, that whether a service is available to city residents is all that is needed in order to utilize city resident tax revenue to pay for such service. The city argues that
