The Greene County School District, by and through the Board of Education, appeals from an order of the Greene County Superior Court granting summary judgment to Greene County, by and through the Board of Commissioners, in a contractual dispute between the two parties. At issue is whether the contract between the parties qualified as an intergovernmental contract,1 authorized by the Georgia Constitution, so that the term of the contract could exceed the term of office of the Commissioners who entered the contract. Because the contract does not constitute a valid intergovernmental contract under the Georgia Constitution, the current County Commissioners are not bound by the contract. Accordingly, we affirm the order of the trial court. In 1997, Greene County sought to renovate its courthouse through funds collected by way of a special purpose local option sales tax SPLOST. Because SPLOST funds cannot be spent to benefit a private party, the County began making efforts to induce the Masonic Lodge of Greensboro to vacate the third floor of the courthouse, which it had owned and occupied since before the Civil War. The County sought to give the Masonic Lodge another property of equal value in exchange for the third floor of the courthouse, and the property the County selected was owned by the School District. The Chairman of the County Commission approached the Chairman of the Board of Education, and offered to waive the County’s 2.5 commission on all taxes collected by the Tax Commissioner for the Board of Education if the Board would convey the coveted property to the County.
Shortly thereafter, the County Commissioners made a formal written proposal to the Board of Education, offering to waive all but 1 of the commission in exchange for the property. The Board of Education accepted the offer, and the finalized agreement was presented to the Board of Education at its meeting on November 3, 1997. The agreement contained no time limit. The Board of Commissioners formally voted to accept the agreement at its November 6th meeting, and the building was conveyed to the County on November 20. The County and Masonic Lodge then exchanged the properties on December 12.
