Clayton County releases draft SWOS 2027 project list; commissioners flag fleet and timing concerns

Clayton County officials on Tuesday reviewed a draft list of projects and estimated revenues for the county—s proposed SWOS 2027 special-purpose local option sales tax program.

Deputy Chief Operating Officer Landry Murchison told the Clayton County Board of Commissioners the county—s share after a $60 million Level 1 allocation would be about $234,923,000, with $117,000,000 going to municipal partners and the remainder to county projects. "That leaves 352,791,000.000, which gets split up as you see listed below," Murchison said during the presentation of the revised elections calendar and project tallies.

Why it matters: The draft program would fund a range of county needs—transportation, police, IT modernization, building repair and parks projects—and also reopens questions about how to address aging fleet vehicles that county departments say are critical to delivering services.

The county-level recommended projects include a mix of large-scale transportation work (resurfacing, bridge replacement, new traffic control systems), police facility reconditioning and academy expansion, IT and fiber backbone upgrades, building and roof repairs, parks projects and some flood-mitigation funding. Murchison said the county—s transportation and development requests include a $33 million annual resurfacing target and a $15 million county share of the Terra Boulevard pedestrian safety project; he also identified several bridge replacements flagged by Georgia DOT.

Fleet question: Staff identified roughly $59 million in fleet needs across departments—about 400 vehicles thought to be 15 years old or older, plus specialized landfill and public-safety apparatus. Fleet director Jeff (surname not specified in the public remarks) told the board that some vehicles are being retired because repairs exceed value. Murchison and fleet staff said buying all vehicles at once would create a future replacement cliff and suggested using the county—s public facilities authority to bond fleet purchases over time. "We have a system—we currently are assessing [a] point system based on the vehicle fleet," Director Matarco said. "Now it's a ranking system. And depending on how much money we're allocated ... we try to replace the highest points now."

Timing concerns: Commissioners pressed that equipment lead times (24—36 months for some pieces) mean SPLOST-funded purchases would not be available immediately; even with a 2027 collection start, some equipment might not arrive until 2031. That delay shaped Board discussion about whether to finance fleet outside the SPLOST schedule.

Funding details and categories: Murchison outlined recommended county allocations including police (patrol replacements, headquarters reconditioning, academy expansion), transportation and development categories (resurfacing, safety projects, roundabouts and traffic mitigation tied to planned development), information technology modernization (including a $40 million criminal justice information system redesign and firewall upgrades), parks and recreation projects, and resilience/flooding funds.

Next steps: Staff said municipal partners had largely returned project lists and that a special called meeting was scheduled to meet election timing and publication deadlines; Murchison urged commissioners to consider funding mechanisms for fleet sooner rather than waiting for midyear budget reviews. Commissioner Gail Hambrick and others asked that any personnel or reclassification changes related to operations be coordinated with finance and human resources before approval.

Ending: County staff will continue refining the SWOS project list and revenue estimates for a special meeting tied to the elections calendar. Commissioners asked for follow-up briefings on fleet financing options and the timing of grant matches associated with transportation projects.