Officials from Cottonwood Heights and Salt Lake County are still haggling over how much of a parting gift the county will pay the fledgling city.

After more than six weeks of negotiations, leaders from both sides met Thursday to hammer out the final details that include a $2.5 million grant, a $576,000 reimbursement and a loan to help the city pay its bills for the next six months.

But the total amount the county will carve out for the city, which incorporated in January, is still up in the air. The sticking point for both sides is the loan amount to help the city stay afloat until property tax revenues stream in during December.

"I think things are going well, but they're going slowly," County Mayor Peter Corroon said. "Every time we meet and hash out a few details, we realize that there are a few more details that we haven't talked about."

Those details include discussions on interest rates for the loan and whether to put the money into an escrow account. And perhaps more importantly, whether the city or the county would control that loan account.

"Our concern is that the same issues seem to be rotating," Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore Jr. said. "We want to achieve in execution what we have achieved in principle."

Originally, the city told county leaders it should be paid anywhere from $3 million to $7 million because tax revenues from the city padded the county's municipal services fund. City leaders say they are entitled to at least some of that money back or an equal credit on contracts for public works, law enforcement and animal services.

Corroon said that loan amount is still being tossed around but could be close to $4 million. The money will be pulled from the county's municipal services fund, a move some county leaders fear could increase the tax burden on other unincorporated residents.

The $2.5 million grant in addition to that loan comes from the county's general fund and is slated for a joint county-city open space project.

The city is looking into buying one of the two schools being closed by the Jordan School District — Cottonwood Heights and Mountview elementaries. But City Manager Liane Stillman said the grant money alone likely will not be enough to purchase one of the 12-acre lots.

"Our first pick in the world is to preserve the school properties," Stillman said. "There is a lot of open space there, even if you put a little city office or a court or a museum."