Clayton County supervisors voted Monday to include two large contractor invoices on the current claims docket and instructed staff to move immediately to pay them while the county addresses a wider backlog of unpaid bills.
The board voted to add a $289,817.45 invoice for Central Asphalt and a $176,345.06 invoice for Dixon (variant spelled in the record as "Dixon and Bourne"/"Dixon and Bowen") to today’s claim docket. The combined actions total $466,162.51. Motions to add both amounts to the claims docket carried after brief discussion and votes by the full board.
County Administrator Dr. Reed told supervisors the county is working through a bottleneck in accounts payable that left roughly $739,910.44 in outstanding invoices. He said staff and the state auditor’s office have agreed on an interim process to generate receiving reports and complete payments.
"I'm asking for at least 45 days and at least three payment cycles within that 45 days that will make sure that we will get them all in," County Administrator Dr. Reed said. "We will begin the process on Wednesday to make sure those delinquent invoices will be paid."
Why it matters: contractors said they finished work weeks ago and raised concerns about delayed payment; supervisors pressed staff for a timetable and documentation so vendors receive payment and the county avoids interest or other penalties.
What the board did: motions were made and approved to place the Central Asphalt and Dixon invoices on the claims docket for payment; supervisors also instructed the administrator to implement the accounts‑payable remediation plan and to provide a written summary of the interim process.
What remains: Dr. Reed said staff will train a designated employee to input receiving reports and that the county will report progress at subsequent meetings. The board did not set an exact payment date but approved moving both invoices onto the claims docket for payment processing.