City of Dacula, County Approve Service Delivery Strategy Proposed Settlement

UPDATED Feb. 8 at 5 a.m.

A dispute between Gwinnett County and 15 cities is nearing a resolution.

On Feb. 7, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved a proposed settlement to the Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) lawsuit. Later that evening, after a brief meeting in executive session, the City of Dacula did likewise.

"This has been a long and tedious and sometimes acrimonious process," said after council authorized him to sign the SDS settlement on behalf of the city. "I want to congratulate the people who have been negotiators on both sides of this argument with the county and the cities. We think that we've reached an agreement that provides fair and equitable services to the citizens of Gwinnett County. With this behind us, I hope we can all work together in the future to make Gwinnett County a great places to live and work and grow strong families."

The other cities involved in the lawsuit have also agreed on a proposed settlement according to a press release from the Gwinnett Municipal Association (GwMA).

“An agreement has been reached,” said Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson in a released statement.  “The parties have worked continuously since the Court’s final ruling in October, 2011 by addressing the County’s unique budgeting and service provision issues.  The Court provided clarity to the parties that allowed us to resolve these differences. In the last two weeks both sides have come together to address the remaining tax equity and service issue disputes.” 

“All of our Gwinnett mayors, key city officials and staff worked hard through mediation, trial proceedings and final negotiations to resolve the issues,” added Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris according to the GwMA press release. 

Auburn Mayor Linda Blechinger said all the involved officials felt it was critical that elected leaders should decide this case, not the Court. "Both sides recognize that last year’s additions of Chairman Charlotte Nash and new Gwinnett Commissioners resulted in a fresh look at options to the provision of certain governmental services and how to fund those services," she said. “All Gwinnett residential and business taxpayers are impacted by this agreement and benefit from its conclusion.” 

As part of the settlement, new service districts will be implemented in 2013 for fire and emergency medical services, police services, Loganville Emergency Medical Services and planning, development, zoning and code enforcement services.

“Countless hours and a lot of hard work have gone into reaching this agreement,” said Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash in a released statement. “The issues involved in funding and operating a major metropolitan county with 15 cities are incredibly complex. I would like to thank everyone who had a role in resolving these issues – all of the mayors, council members and city staff, as well as our district commissioners and County staff. Without their commitment to resolving these issues, a settlement could not have been reached.”

County and city representatives met Tuesday night at the Gwinnett County Historic Courthouse to sign the proposed agreement. The court will now be asked to approve the settlement and lift the sanctions that have prevented the involved parties from receiving state loans, grants and permits.

“We are limiting our comments at this time because the litigation remains active,” said Nash. “However, we plan to fully discuss the details once the Court has acted on the proposed consent order."