Clayton County commissioners direct staff to include jail as SPLOST level 1 project; further review scheduled

The Clayton County Board of Commissioners on June 3 directed staff to proceed with preparing estimates for a level 1 SPLOST project focused on the county jail and asked staff to return with numbers and documentation at upcoming meetings.

Chief Mircherson (SPLOST staff lead) told the board the statutory timeline requires the county to notify municipalities soon so they can prepare project lists and that the county must make a final call no later than an August 5 target to meet elections deadlines. Mircherson said notices to cities must be issued by June 10 and that the statutory deadline for finalizing certain materials is June 23. He told commissioners he is working with county finance and department directors to arrive at a projected net revenue figure for a potential 2026 SPLOST and to show how any level 1 projects would be deducted "off the top" of that total, shrinking downstream allocations to cities.

Commissioners discussed which facilities qualify as level 1 projects — Mircherson listed the categories the county can classify as level 1: courthouse, administrative building for elected officials/constitutional officers, county or regional jail/correctional institution/detention facility, or a county health department facility. Several commissioners said the jail requires work and that courthouse repairs also merit consideration; one commissioner suggested the board could name two level 1 projects and later remove one if needed. Director Fox and the chief operating officer said they will put together prioritized lists linked to the county facilities master plan and noted previous SPLOST lists and unfunded items from the 2021 SPLOST.

The board did not adopt dollar figures at the meeting. Instead, commissioners gave staff direction to estimate dollar amounts for proposed level 1 projects (chiefly the jail and courthouse) and to circulate those allocations to municipal partners using the county's usual intergovernmental percentage splits. The board also added an additional SPLOST discussion to the June 10 work session to continue vetting priorities before a vote on any referendum language or final allocations at a later meeting.

The vice chair summarized the outcome as a consensus to include a level 1 jail project in staff's preliminary SPLOST worksheets and to continue the discussion at the June 10 work session so staff can meet the June 10 notice date to municipalities.

What happens next: staff will provide estimated level 1 dollar figures, begin vetting those figures with the county COO and director of finance, and present a circulated worksheet showing estimated municipal allocations under different level 1 scenarios. The board did not adopt a formal resolution or call a SPLOST referendum at the June 3 meeting; it requested further analysis and formal votes at subsequent meetings.