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DeKalb votes to pay $25.1 million City of Atlanta invoice tied to wastewater capital projects
Summary
Committee approved payment of a $25,138,227.54 invoice from the City of Atlanta covering capital costs tied to treatment capacity the county uses, and commissioners discussed capacity allocations and the approaching 2029 term renewal of the intergovernmental agreement.
DeKalb County's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee approved a $25,138,227.54 payment to the City of Atlanta to cover capital expenditures billed to DeKalb for the third quarter 2022 through the first quarter of 2025.
Reginald "Reggie" Wells, director of the Department of Watershed Management, told commissioners the charge is an invoice from the city for capital improvements at facilities the county uses, with the largest share tied to the R.M. Clayton wastewater treatment facility. "We utilize about, our allotment is 48% of the capacity, 48.5, I believe, to be exact," Wells said, explaining that capital costs are allocated to the county based on its usage percentage under a longstanding intergovernmental agreement.
Wells and county staff reviewed the history of the intergovernmental agreement, first executed around 1968 and amended several times; a 1999 amendment followed litigation over cost allocations. Commissioners pressed staff on whether the county has sufficient capacity to connect areas currently on septic systems; staff said current flows indicate adequate capacity but promised to provide the specific portions of the agreement that quantify allotments in million gallons per day and peak/wet-weather categories.
The committee discussed a forthcoming, large North Fork storage and pumping project that began in late 2024 and is expected to run through 2027; Wells said DeKalb's share of that single project could be material because of the county's roughly 48% allocation to the RM Clayton service area.
County counsel and administration staff said the invoice is a vetted capital charge from Atlanta and that the county had been slower to process some items because of pandemic-related delays in construction schedules; staff said the county is now current through the periods described in the invoice. Commissioners heard that the current intergovernmental agreement is scheduled to expire June 30, 2029, and several commissioners asked that the county begin long-range planning discussions with nearby municipalities and Atlanta in advance of that renewal.
The committee voted to approve payment at the meeting.
