Officials from the three counties that once made up the Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Services have one last chance to allow common sense to prevail.

It has been nearly three years since the emergency medical service disbanded and the former partners remain at odds over who owes who what. The parties have agreed to one final court-ordered mediation session, despite the fact that previous attempts have been unsuccessful in bringing the parties to a common ground.

We urge the county commissioners from Athens, Jackson and Lawrence to simply sit down at the table, crunch the numbers and come up with a mutually beneficial agreement that will prevent more tax dollars from being spent unnecessarily in a drawn-out legal battle.

The Lawrence County Commissioners are absolutely correct to fight for this money since we have long believe that local taxpayers were subsidizing the service. Officials with the other two counties may feel the same way.

In the end, the potential reward must outweigh the cost of the fight.

There is still time for these elected officials to do the right thing and focus on what best serves all the taxpayers.