Judge orders Gwinnett, cities to court

The judge overseeing Gwinnett County's tax dispute with its 15 cities has put his foot down.

A week after setting a Feb. 1 deadline for the parties to reach an agreement on their own,

The dispute, which involves how much city residents should pay in taxes for county services, has dragged on for two years. The last agreement between the two parties expired last March.

So far, the dispute has rung up $300,000 in legal fees for the cities. The county has accumulated nearly $207,000 in legal fees plus paid a retired employee $1,258 to assist in the process.

Barrett's order says a hearing to resolve all remaining matters will be scheduled at the March court session.