DALTON, Ga. — The City of Dalton is suggesting the filing of a petition in Superior Court for mandatory mediation with Whitfield County to help bring a resolution to a dispute between the two over the service delivery agreement.

Representatives of the governments met for almost eight hours recently in mediation but failed to reach an agreement and have since traded letters with proposals and counterproposals.

County Board of Commissioners Chairman Lynn Laughter had said earlier this week, “I would say to the city to at least please sign an extension until February so we don’t go off a cliff on Oct. 31 …”

“Dalton officials do not plan to agree to extend the service delivery agreement, which has already been extended for one year past its Oct. 31, 2018, deadline,” the city said in a press release late Thursday afternoon, the day the existing service delivery agreement was set to expire. If it is not recertified, Whitfield County, Dalton and the cities of Cohutta, Tunnel Hill and Varnell could become ineligible for state grants and other funding and for state-issued permits.

On Thursday, Laughter said, “I’m extremely disappointed. For the life of me I cannot understand at all why the city would be willing to push us over the cliff of becoming a non-qualified local government when we have asked them repeatedly to at least sign an extension until the end of February. I just don’t get it.

“What I get is that Andy Welch (the city’s special counsel) has created a little cottage industry over these issues and that he would prefer us not to settle so he could take this to court and try to affect counties and cities all over the state.”

As for the petition in Superior Court, Laughter said, “That’s a nice way of saying ‘We’re going to sue you.’”

“We thought if we could get an extension and we couldn’t come to an agreement, they could sue us, but we would have time maybe to get through that process without becoming a non-qualified local government,” Laughter said.

She said it is “very reckless to allow the city and the county to go into non-qualified status.”

The city said in the press release that a recent counterproposal it received from Whitfield County was considered by city officials, who “do not feel that it adequately addresses the significant tax inequities that exist between city taxpayers and those in the unincorporated area.”

Of the petition possibility, Dalton Mayor Dennis Mock said in the press release, “We want to make every effort to keep the process moving forward to a resolution and this petition process is the quickest route.”

The press release said, “If the city files the petition, it would include a request for the judge to lift the sanctions which will be imposed … Nov. 1, 2019, by the (state) Department of Community Affairs. The sanctions affect the ability for city and county governments to receive grants and permits from any state-administered agency. The sanctions do not impact local business or industry directly.”

Concerning possibly extending the service delivery agreement, Dalton Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Denise Wood said in the press release, “Based on our experience in this discussion with Whitfield County commissioners, which dates back to January 2018, we keep being asked to delay resolution of the agreement. We believe it’s time to get this worked out.”

Under state law, cities and counties must negotiate a new service delivery agreement every 10 years, laying out which services the governments will provide and how they will be paid for. The idea is to reduce duplication of services.

The current service delivery agreement is actually 39 separate agreements between the cities and the county, covering items ranging from ambulance service to zoning.