Panama City had withheld $128,000 from the county for wholesale water services, saying the county's rate increases were improper under their existing contract.

County officials say they raised the rates because their costs increased. Tuesday, commissioners expressed hope the disputes could be resolved without litigation.

Bay County commissioner George Gainer said, "Let's do what we were sent here to do and if we can't do it, if we can't negotiate these things among ourselves and be the leaders that we ought to be, we ought to go home."

Bay County is moving forward with its claims against Tyndall Air Force Base, which supposedly owes the county almost half-a-million dollars in unpaid water bills.