OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Clayton County BLC Meeting Summary - June 9, 2026

Board of Commissioners — Tuesday, June 9, 2026
BodyClayton County, Georgia
SessionBoard of Commissioners
DateTuesday, June 9, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:17:36

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Is now called to order.

0:01

The time is 5 30 p.m.

0:04

And we will get started.

0:07

Board members, are there any preliminary items for the next BLC meeting that you would like to discuss?

0:18

I'll know Commissioner Hamburg and Commissioner Davis.

0:21

Come on, look.

0:28

Again, are there any preliminary items for the June 16, 2026 board meeting that you guys would like to discuss at this time?

0:37

Okay.

0:38

All right, we'll move on to our items the item three agenda items.

0:42

Our first one will be the FY2025 audit presentation by Meredith Lipson.

0:54

Good afternoon.

0:56

Good afternoon.

0:57

I want to apologize for last month's skipping out real quick there, had a family emergency, but I appreciate you having me back.

1:04

Again, I'm here to present the fiscal year 2025 audit for the county.

1:12

We do have a PowerPoint presentation.

1:15

I'll go through.

1:17

Just a quick run through of what we'll talk about, the engagement team, the overview of the audit opinion, the statements and footnotes, and the compliance reports.

1:26

There are certain things we're required to communicate to you all as auditors.

1:31

Talk about some financial trends and then some of the accounting recommendations that we have as a result of our audit.

1:37

First off, again, my Meredith Lipson, I'm the partner in charge of the annual audit.

1:41

Ryan Jones, also a partner, works on the audit with me.

1:46

And then we also have an additional partner that served as a quality assurance partner along with an engagement manager and several team members.

1:55

Molden and Jenkins does an enormous amount of governmental auditing all across the state, all across the Southeast.

2:00

We now have 19 offices in eight states, and so we're very proud of the practice that we have for our governmental auditing and feel that we can bring a lot of information to you all because of our experience in June said.

2:13

Most important thing, our audit opinion.

2:16

We did issue well, first off, our responsibilities as part of as auditors are to perform the audit in accordance with government, excuse me, generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards.

2:31

The objective is to provide reasonable but not absolute assurance that the basic financial statements are free from material misstatement.

2:39

And the rest the financial statements as always are the responsibility of county's management, and our responsibility is to express an opinion based on our audit procedures.

2:48

We did issue an unmodified clean opinion on the financial statements.

3:25

So let's talk about the financial statements and the footnotes first off.

3:40

Total assets, um, deferred outflows of resources increased from approximately approximately 1.35 billion to approximately 1.382 billion over the previous fiscal year.

3:54

Um there were increases in both capital and in your um cash and cash equivalents for the fiscal year uh 25.

4:02

Your liabilities and deferred inflows decreased from approximately 762 million to approximately 741 million.

4:10

The majority of that decrease was due to decreases in your pension and OPEB liabilities.

4:16

Those um fluctuate year to year depending on actuarial assumptions and market returns.

4:22

The county's net position increased by approximately uh 57 million from the prior year's restated balance of 579 million.

4:31

Um the end of the year net position totaled approximately 636 million.

4:37

Um that amount, 321 million of the county's net position is restricted by outside um by outside parties, meaning that the special purpose local options sales tax funds, those are restricted.

4:50

A lot of the special revenue funds that you have, those amounts are restricted as well.

5:02

So that's not a that's not a liquid asset, of course.

5:05

That's the property and equipment and furniture infrastructure and those items.

5:10

Your unrestricted net position at June 30, 2025 is a deficit of approximately 443 million.

5:17

However, that 400 for 443 million dollar deficit, it is a deficit because of your net pension liability and your net OPEB liability.

5:29

Those amounts are significant.

5:31

They are significant for every government we work with, and many times because of the significance of those liabilities, it dips your net position down into a negative amount.

5:42

I think the thing that you all should be most be focused on, we'll talk about in a minute is your general fund.

5:47

What we've just talked about encompasses all your funds together and also includes those pension and OPEB liabilities.

5:57

So when we look at the operations of the county as a whole, your total program revenues increased from approximately 95 million to 120 million.

6:06

That increase was approximately 26% and was the result of a number of different grant revenues that were higher than they had been in the previous year.

6:17

Your total program expenses increased from approximately $451 million to $480 million, about a 6% increase.

6:26

That was the expenses increased across most all departments.

6:31

I mean, it wasn't really one in particular, and it really is very similar to most of the governments we work with.

6:39

I mean, every year things just increase in cost.

6:43

Your total general rep general revenues increase from approximately $350 million to $418 million, about a 19% increase.

6:50

That's primarily related to the big increase in your property tax revenues.

6:54

Your overall change in net position increased by approximately $63 million.

7:01

The prior year change in net position was a decrease of about $6.6 million.

7:08

The current year you had an increase of about $57 million.

7:11

So a big a big swing there, approximately $63 million.

7:18

Next, we'll talk about the compliance reports.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Engagement███████████████15%
Public Safety███████████████15%
Data Center Regulation██████████████14%
Fiscal Sustainability█████████████13%
Property Tax███████7%
Community Engagement██████6%
Workforce Development██████6%
Procedural█████5%
Sports Events█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Clayton County BLC Meeting Summary - June 9, 2026

The Board of Commissioners held a work session on June 9, 2026, at 5:30 PM to review the FY2025 audit, discuss data center regulations, hear public testimony on justice-impacted protections, examine public safety salary competitiveness, consider FIFA World Cup programming, and explore a local homestead option sales tax. No formal votes were taken; discussions will inform the June 16 board meeting.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Dominique Grant, Takai Tinsley, Corey Thompson, Tad Vassal (BAR Business) presented on behalf of justice-impacted residents. They urged the board to adopt an ordinance to prohibit blanket exclusions from employment and housing based on criminal records, citing over 44,000 collateral consequences in Georgia and 70% of unemployment among formerly incarcerated individuals. They offered a draft modeled after Atlanta and New Orleans ordinances and stressed that stable employment reduces recidivism (33% return within 8 months without work, increasing to 77% over three years).

Discussion Items

1. FY2025 Audit Presentation (Meredith Lipson, Molden & Jenkins)

  • The county received an unmodified (clean) opinion on financial statements.
  • Total assets/deferred outflows increased from $1.35 billion to $1.382 billion; liabilities/deferred inflows decreased from $762 million to $741 million.
  • Net position increased by $57 million to $636 million; unrestricted net position is a deficit of $443 million primarily due to pension and OPEB liabilities.
  • General fund balance rose to $90.9 million (FY2025) from $74.7 million (FY2024).
  • Findings included: an unrecorded finance purchase of a fire truck (past adjustment), $285,000 dormant escrow account in Sheriff’s Office (12+ years), unreported Development Authority bank accounts, deferred revenue overstatement ($10 million), and a late federal quarterly report. Management recommendations included: consolidate Tax Commissioner bank accounts, address old outstanding checks, and adopt a capitalization policy for infrastructure.
  • Internal audit assigned to follow up on repeat findings.

2. Data Center Regulation Update (Planning Director GK)

  • Requested a second extension of the data center moratorium (to December 27, 2026) while drafting an ordinance covering pre-construction analysis, water/power supply, conditional use permits, design standards, and decommissioning.
  • Proposed zoning: light/heavy industrial and warehouse districts, with distance buffers from residential areas.
  • Commissioners questioned why regulations were not in place before the Ellenwood data center; planning director cited the recent national focus on data centers. Commissioner Davis requested public community meetings beyond the standard zoning process; planning director agreed.

3. FY2026 Salary Compensation for Public Safety (Chief Roberts, Police; Chief Sweat, Fire/EMS)

  • Police: Hired 63 officers in FY2025 (avg. 5.25/month); FY2026 rate is 4.6/month. Attrition decreased but pay gap widening. Clayton County police pay near bottom of metro, south metro, and north metro comparisons; also in the middle among cities within the county (Forest Park and Jonesboro pay more). Dispatchers also near bottom despite higher call volume and dual roles. Animal Control officers lost to Forest Park due to $58,000 starting salary.
  • Fire/EMS: Hired 79 in FY2025, attrition 6.84%; FY2026 class of 34, but attrition already 11.4%. Starting salary $51,992; competitors like Peachtree City pay more without EMS duties. Clayton County runs 62,000 calls annually.
  • Chiefs recommended competitive pay increases and incentives (shift differential, tuition reimbursement, milestone pay). Commissioner Hamburg expressed support for a pay incentive, even if it requires a millage increase.
  • Commissioner Davis asked if salary recommendations are in the FY2027 budget; no direct answer.

4. FIFA World Cup Watch Parties (Planning Director GK)

  • Proposed two free public viewing events: July 7 at Gerald Matthews Sports Complex (soccer clinics, family activities) and July 15 at Arena at Southlake (indoor watch party, capacity 1,000).
  • Total cost $140,993. Revenue opportunities limited due to FIFA rules (no entry fee) but concession sales possible.
  • Some commissioners questioned the short planning timeline (first full briefing on June 1) and high security/EMT costs ($7,500). Planning director stated the request was emailed on May 14. No decision was reached; board will consider at June 16 meeting.
  • The airport CID expansion item was deferred to June 16.

5. Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (L HOST) (Staff Attorney/Legal Presentation)

  • Explanation of Senate Bill 33 (passed 2026): caps homestead assessment increases at inflation, and creates option for a 1% sales tax to offset property taxes for homesteaded properties (primary residence, up to 5 acres).
  • County would shift property tax burden to consumption tax; state reimburses revenue lost from homestead exemptions.
  • If county adopts, cities can opt in separately. Fire Chief Sweat noted fire fund (86% property tax) could be negatively affected if sales tax revenue is not allocated to it. Commissioner Davis requested study before FY2028 budget.
  • Governor’s special session provides a window for adoption; board may also pursue in next regular session.

Key Outcomes

  • Audit findings: Internal audit to engage departments to resolve repeat findings.
  • Data center moratorium: Board will consider second extension to December 27, 2026, and a draft ordinance at June 16 meeting.
  • Public safety compensation: No action taken; budget discussions expected for FY2027.
  • FIFA programming: No decision; will be on June 16 agenda.
  • L HOST: No decision; board to explore further before possible special session action.
  • Airport CID expansion: Deferred to June 16, 2026.
  • Justice-impacted ordinance: Board requested copies of draft ordinances; no formal action.

Meeting Transcript

Is now called to order. The time is 5 30 p.m. And we will get started. Board members, are there any preliminary items for the next BLC meeting that you would like to discuss? I'll know Commissioner Hamburg and Commissioner Davis. Come on, look. Again, are there any preliminary items for the June 16, 2026 board meeting that you guys would like to discuss at this time? Okay. All right, we'll move on to our items the item three agenda items. Our first one will be the FY2025 audit presentation by Meredith Lipson. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. I want to apologize for last month's skipping out real quick there, had a family emergency, but I appreciate you having me back. Again, I'm here to present the fiscal year 2025 audit for the county. We do have a PowerPoint presentation. I'll go through. Just a quick run through of what we'll talk about, the engagement team, the overview of the audit opinion, the statements and footnotes, and the compliance reports. There are certain things we're required to communicate to you all as auditors. Talk about some financial trends and then some of the accounting recommendations that we have as a result of our audit. First off, again, my Meredith Lipson, I'm the partner in charge of the annual audit. Ryan Jones, also a partner, works on the audit with me. And then we also have an additional partner that served as a quality assurance partner along with an engagement manager and several team members. Molden and Jenkins does an enormous amount of governmental auditing all across the state, all across the Southeast. We now have 19 offices in eight states, and so we're very proud of the practice that we have for our governmental auditing and feel that we can bring a lot of information to you all because of our experience in June said. Most important thing, our audit opinion. We did issue well, first off, our responsibilities as part of as auditors are to perform the audit in accordance with government, excuse me, generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards. The objective is to provide reasonable but not absolute assurance that the basic financial statements are free from material misstatement. And the rest the financial statements as always are the responsibility of county's management, and our responsibility is to express an opinion based on our audit procedures. We did issue an unmodified clean opinion on the financial statements. So let's talk about the financial statements and the footnotes first off. Total assets, um, deferred outflows of resources increased from approximately approximately 1.35 billion to approximately 1.382 billion over the previous fiscal year. Um there were increases in both capital and in your um cash and cash equivalents for the fiscal year uh 25. Your liabilities and deferred inflows decreased from approximately 762 million to approximately 741 million. The majority of that decrease was due to decreases in your pension and OPEB liabilities. Those um fluctuate year to year depending on actuarial assumptions and market returns. The county's net position increased by approximately uh 57 million from the prior year's restated balance of 579 million. Um the end of the year net position totaled approximately 636 million. Um that amount, 321 million of the county's net position is restricted by outside um by outside parties, meaning that the special purpose local options sales tax funds, those are restricted. A lot of the special revenue funds that you have, those amounts are restricted as well. So that's not a that's not a liquid asset, of course. That's the property and equipment and furniture infrastructure and those items. Your unrestricted net position at June 30, 2025 is a deficit of approximately 443 million. However, that 400 for 443 million dollar deficit, it is a deficit because of your net pension liability and your net OPEB liability. Those amounts are significant. They are significant for every government we work with, and many times because of the significance of those liabilities, it dips your net position down into a negative amount. I think the thing that you all should be most be focused on, we'll talk about in a minute is your general fund. What we've just talked about encompasses all your funds together and also includes those pension and OPEB liabilities. So when we look at the operations of the county as a whole, your total program revenues increased from approximately 95 million to 120 million. That increase was approximately 26% and was the result of a number of different grant revenues that were higher than they had been in the previous year. Your total program expenses increased from approximately $451 million to $480 million, about a 6% increase.

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