SAVANNAH, Ga. — Commissioners in Chatham County, home to Savannah, have stopped fighting the Georgia Supreme Court ruling on the county fire fee, voting Monday morning to withdraw their request that the justices take another look at the case.
The vote was unanimous and came at a special meeting, after commissioners spent close to an hour behind closed doors in executive session. The court had found that the fee should have been treated as a tax, leaving the county on the hook for roughly $30 million owed to current and former residents who paid it.
District 7 Commissioner Dean Kicklighter said the goal is to protect taxpayers in the unincorporated area. Interest keeps growing on the judgment every day the county waits, and he said ending the rehearing request could spare more than $1 million of it. The county attorney estimated the interest at about $225,000 for a single 30-day month.
Dropping the challenge does not erase the debt. It clears the way for the settlement phase, and the county still has to work out how refunds will reach people. That plan depends on the court order, which the county is still waiting on.
Kicklighter said commissioners will lay out a detailed explanation of the decision for residents at their next meeting.
A recent case offers one possible model. The Georgia Supreme Court earlier this year ordered Emanuel County to repay $650,000. If Chatham follows the same approach, current residents who paid the fee would get refunds by mail automatically, while former residents would need to file their details through an online portal.
Section: More Savannah GA politics news
Filed under: Savannah GA Politics News
