Clayton News Daily

Photo by Curt Yeomans The Jonesboro City Council voted unanimously Monday to appoint Mayor Joy Day as it representative in LOST and service delivery strategy negotiations with the county.

JONESBORO — Mayor Joy Day will represent her city at the LOST negotiating table but the Jonesboro City Council will be waiting to find out if an agreement between Clayton County and its seven cities is to their liking.

The Council voted unanimously Monday night to appoint Day as the city’s representative in ongoing negotiations on a new LOST and service delivery strategy agreement. While Jonesboro’s mayor was given negotiating power, the Council still has to approve any settlement that’s hammered out, Day said.

“We were advised to appoint one representative that could speak for the city,” said Day. “But the Council would still have final approval so it would have to go back to the Council. That way you’re not in a room with a bunch of people and nobody has any authority.”

The Jonesboro City Council’s decision came 15 hours before a scheduled public meeting Tuesday between county officials and representatives from each of the cities at the county Commission’s office at 112 Smith Street, in Jonesboro. The negotiations are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., after a called Commission meeting at 9:30 a.m., where commissioners will choose their representative in negotiations.

The current LOST expires at the end of this year and the cities have agreed to tie together the negotiations on a new LOST and service delivery agreement. The previous service delivery agreement expired last October.

Clayton County’s cities receive 25.15 percent of the money brought in by the existing LOST, according to a LOST allocation report the Clayton News Daily has obtained. The report, which was prepared for the cities by their negotiating consultant, former Savannah City Manager Michael Brown, shows Clayton County kept $36 million of the $48 million in LOST revenues collected in 2011.

Forest Park got $4.7 million from the sales tax while Riverdale got $2.6 million. Following those cities was Morrow ($1.6 million), Jonesboro and Lake City ($1.01 million each), Lovejoy ($554,275) and College Park ($482,035).