Publications
ACCG has produced several publications to assist counties in their day-to-day operations on a variety of topics. Each publication is routinely updated to ensure that timely and accurate information is available for county use.
Handbook for Georgia County Commissioners
The Handbook for Georgia County Commissioners is a comprehensive reference guide to county government. The Handbook contains hard-to-find statutory authority, best practice tips, maps, tables, and most importantly, information that will assist in the day-to-day operations of the county. ACCG is currently creating new content for the Handbook. All new chapters will be made available online. No hard copies of the Handbook will be produced. Links to new chapters and existing chapters can be found here.
ACCG Guidebooks
ACCG Guidebooks are available for download. The guidebooks cover topics from county constitutional officers to local option sales tax to assist counties in their day-to-day operations on a variety of topics. Each publication is routinely updated to ensure that current and accurate information is available for county use.
Publications
- ACCG 2023 Annexation Arbitration Guidance
- The Arbitration Handbook for Annexation Land Use Disputes
- Charting a Course for Cooperation and Collaboration
- Constitutional County Officers Guide
- EMS Regionalization Study
- Salary Guide: Guide for Computing County Official Salaries
- A Guide to Local Government Construction Projects
- Handbook for Georgia County Commissioners
- Identity Theft Program
- LOST Guide
- Meetings Organization and Public Access for Counties
- Model Emergency Management Ordinance and Agreements
- Open Meetings/Open Records Guide
- Parliamentary Procedure for Counties: A Guide and Model Ordinance
- SPLOST Guide
- Populations Acts
- Local Constitutional Amendments
2024 County Officials Salary Guide
The "Computing County Official Salaries for 2024" guidebook is now available. ACCG publishes this guidebook annually to assist counties in calculating salaries (as of January 1, 2024) of certain county officials, as well as state officials who receive supplements to their salaries from the county. The procedure outlined in this guidebook has been reviewed and approved by the Constitutional Officers Association of Georgia (COAG), the Magistrate Council of Georgia, and ACCG. Important highlights in which counties may be most interested are shown below:
- The state awarded a $2,000 cost of living adjustment (COLA) to state employees, which (absent local acts setting up a different and higher pay structure) trickles down to counties via statutes requiring identical county-paid COLAs to 1) county commissioners, 2) constitutional officers, 3) magistrate judges, and 4) coroners in counties of under 35,000 population. These COLAs are payable beginning January 1, 2024.
- For counties with local acts tying county officials' pay to the pay of superior court judges, note that the state also gave those judges a $2,000 COLA. Since state-paid COLAs go into effect on July 1, 2023, counties with such local acts may need to start paying increases to certain local officials as of July 1st. However, this may vary depending on the wording of the local act.
If you have any questions about how salaries should be calculated, please contact your county attorney.
Previous Salary Guides
EMS Regionalization Study
A study by ACCG prepared for the Georgia Department of Community Health State Office of Rural Health. Published in 2016, the report asses the feasibility of regionalizing EMS systems in Georgia.