Lowndes County, GA - September 14, 2012

Once again negotiations over money from a penny tax in Lowndes County have stalled.

At Thursday's City Council meeting the mayors of all five cities joined together in calling for a Superior Court judge to make the final decision. The Mayors and County Commissioners have been unable to reach an agreement on how to share tax dollars.

They have been fighting since April over who gets a bigger portion of money from the Local Option Sales Tax, also called LOST.

"We have exhausted our other opportunities," said Valdosta Mayor John Gayle. "We have tried to negotiate with the county. We tried mediation. And we have not got anywhere with that. So our next step is to let a judge decide who gets what."

Both parties will have to submit a final offer and the judge will choose the winner.

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Valdosta, Georgia- August 23, 2012

A contentious battle over tax dollars in Lowndes County has hit another dead end.

A mediator was called in to help the County Commissioners and all five cities come to an agreement on how to share tax dollars. But now even mediation has failed.

They have been fighting since April over who gets a bigger portion of money from the Local Option Sales Tax called LOST. Now the issue will have to be resolved by a judge. Both parties will have to submit a final offer and the judge will choose the winner.

The LOST funds are worth more than $200,000. They are renegotiated every ten years.