It's not a good thing to hear from one's own lawyer: You broke the law, and if you land in court, I'll have a hard time helping you.
Fulton County's top attorney on Wednesday told the Board of Commissioners just that: that its handling of $221,000 in two northern cities' leftover property taxes clearly violated state law.
His words put the money once more out of reach of Johns Creek and Milton taxpayers, and they left the county in the sticky position of having hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting illegally in its primary fund.
Trying to prevent a legal battle over the money, commissioners voted earlier this month to move it into the countywide general fund, then work with the Johns Creek and Milton city councils to put it to use for the benefit of city taxpayers. Finance managers transferred the money -- now calculated at about $220,000 -- out of two special accounts into the general fund Monday.
At the time of the vote, leaders on both sides of the dispute questioned whether state law allows mixing general fund dollars and money collected for city-type services for unincorporated residents. County Attorney David Ware said they were right to be concerned.
"If challenged, I would have a difficult time defending the board's actions," Ware told the panel. "In my opinion, the money shouldn't have been moved."
The development means that Johns Creek and Milton residents won't be seeing any benefit from the money any time soon. Ware said it can't be spent until the state Legislature gives direction through a new law.
The money in question came from taxes levied before the two cities formed in late 2006, when they still paid a special tax to the county for services such as law enforcement, fire protection, parks and planning.
In 2008, state Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton, pushed a bill requiring Fulton to return to the cities any lingering money that they had paid into special services. Johns Creek got $2.85 million and Milton got about $4.2 million.
Under the county's interpretation of the bill, there was a cutoff date of May 2008. But more 2006 taxes kept trickling in, such as late payments, penalties and sums paid after assessment appeals were settled. Johns Creek's total stands at about $115,000 and Milton has about $105,000.
North Fulton Commissioner Liz Hausmann, among the four who voted to move the money, tried to repair the situation by putting it back into the special accounts, but she couldn't get the needed four votes.
"It was wrong to do it in the first place," said south Fulton Commissioner Bill Edwards, who voted against Hausmann. "Let them rectify it. They're the ones who did it."
Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker said the county ought to cut checks to his city and Milton, just as it did in 2008. He said he wouldn't have cooperated with the county on finding a use for the money because he had maintained putting it in the general fund was illegal.
The general fund is for such countywide functions as courts, the jail, libraries, senior services and health centers.
"I have a responsibility because I actually take my oath of office seriously," Bodker said.
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