Nenagh's councillors are threatening to take their county manager to court because, they claim, North Tipperary County Council owes the town council money.
The town's councillors claim the county council owes them €21,000 in rent for the use of a site they own at Lisboney, on the outskirts of Nenagh, for temporary Traveller accommodation.
The town council has invoiced the county council for payment and councillors have indicated that they are prepared to bring the issue to the courts if the bill is not paid.
"We have to agree to invoice the county manager and if he does not pay then we will have to take him through the courts," Nenagh's mayor, Mr Tom Moylan (FG), said this week.
But councillors are facing an uphill battle because the town's management will not sanction legal action against the county manager.
This, combined with the professional opinion that the town council is only entitled to €100 for the rent of the Lisboney site, makes the town council's position more difficult.
Councillors hoped the €21,000 rent payment would help them avoid wholesale cuts to Nenagh services, because they failed to adopt a sufficient budget in January.
But at this week's monthly meeting of Nenagh Town Council, the town manager, Mr Karl Cashen, dealt their plan to balance the 2003 budget a severe blow.
The town manager said legal opinion agreed with the view that the town council is entitled to charge the county council rent for the use of the Lisboney site, but the rent could only amount to €100.
Councillors viewed the €21,000 rent as the key to balancing their books, averting mooted cuts in Christmas lighting, town twinning, contributions to local organisations and work on local parks.
Mr Tommie Morgan (Ind) called for legal action to be taken against the county manager and the county council because they owed the council €21,000 and not €100.
However, Mr Cashen, said management held the power to initiate legal proceedings - an action he is not prepared to undertake.
In January councillors adjusted their 2003 budget by adopting an alternative method to treat sludge collected at the town's sewage treatment plant to balance their budget.
However, management, directed by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, deemed that budget was insufficient and needed adjustments.
If sludge treatment is taken into account, saving the council in excess of €65,000, the town's budget is facing a shortfall of €21,000.
Instead of cutting services, councillors needed the payment of rent for the use of the Lisboney site, which has been used as a temporary halting site for the past year-and-a-half by North Tipperary County Council.