An ongoing dispute between Gwinnett County and the new city of Mulberry over service delivery is now the subject of state legislation.
The city, which took legal effect on January 1, 2025 after being voted into existence by residents the previous March, has argued that Gwinnett County has not been providing services within the city's limits since that date. Mulberry Mayor Michael Coker spoke in a Georgia State House committee hearing Tuesday, saying the county has not been acting in good faith to negotiate service delivery with the city.
"As part of the Mulberry charter, there is a two-year transition period to allow for a smooth transition of services from the county to the city. In the transition, Gwinnett is required to continue to provide services to Mulberry," Coker said. "When the initial city council was elected, we were eager to get started, to begin working with the county to discuss the transition of services. Instead, we were met with county lawsuits to stop the city, county leadership failing to show up at meetings, a ban on county employees from speaking with me or anyone with the city to discuss the transition of services, the cancellation of hundreds of building permits without any refund to homeowners in my city...and veiled threats that things 'are going to continue to deteriorate in Mulberry until the litigation is resolved.'"
State Senator Clint Dixon (R-Buford), who was one of the elected officials who led the legislative push in 2024 to create Mulberry, introduced three Senate bills in early February regarding the city.
Senate Bill 137 aims to amend Mulberry's charter to allow the municipal court to begin operations. Senate Bill 139 seeks to annex several additional properties into the city. A map of those proposed annexations can be found on the city's website (proposed annexations are highlighted in yellow, with existing city land in blue.)
Senate Bill 138, meanwhile, addresses the services dispute. It is worded to specifically only apply to Gwinnett County and the city of Mulberry and aims to require Gwinnett to continue providing several services through the transition period.
All three bills passed the State Senate on Thursday, February 20 and have been recommended by a State House committee.
Dixon spoke before the Senate vote on the bills explaining why he introduced the legislation.
"(Gwinnett) currently will not negotiate with the city, will not take phone calls from the mayor or council dealing with service delivery...they are simply trying to starve the city out," Dixon said.
Gwinnett County issued a response to Dixon and Coker's claims on Thursday morning.
"Since the beginning of the year, Gwinnett County has continued to provide all essential services to the residents of the City of Mulberry, including Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Water and Sewer, Solid Waste and Stormwater. However, because of an official notice provided by representatives of the City of Mulberry to Gwinnett County in October of 2024, the County was legally prohibited from performing certain services within the City of Mulberry after January 1st, including permitting and inspections," county officials said. "To address this and other issues related to the transition of services, and in lieu of a legislative solution, the County prepared and delivered to the City of Mulberry a proposed agreement that is similar to the many service agreements the County has with its other cities. We hope to have this service agreement with the City of Mulberry in place in the coming days."
When asked about the proposed agreement, Coker told AccessWDUN that the city received it from the county shortly before Tuesday's legislative hearing. He said the city's attorney is currently reviewing the proposal.
Gwinnett County Attorney Mike Ludwiczak also spoke at the Tuesday hearing, saying the county never intended not to negotiate service delivery with the city.
"I acknowledge that Mayor Coker made several contacts with the Board of Commissioners, and our response at that time was simply, listen, this will go much quicker attorney-to-attorney working on the actual details of the agreement, no offense to any elected officials," Ludwiczak said.
He added that the county never received an intergovernmental agreement proposal from Mulberry.
"In January, we received a letter from Mulberry indicating that their proposal for such an agreement was forthcoming, and I know the agreement was referenced a number of times in Mulberry City Council meetings, discussing this IGA that they were preparing and that they were going to send to Gwinnett County," Ludwiczak said. "Long story short, we never received any such agreement, any such proposal."
Coker, however, argued that the county has been hostile in its dealings with the city.
"I feel like I'm in a mafia movie," Coker said. "We did not pick this fight. I have lived my entire life in Gwinnett County. I want both Mulberry and Gwinnett to succeed. (SB 138) allows us to do that."
The three bills will need a vote of approval from the State House before moving to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's desk for final approval.
