Cobb County Government

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Cobb County Government
100 Cherokee Street
Marietta, GA 30090
(770) 528-1000
(770) 528-2490 fax

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Cobb County Today

175th Anniversary Events

Cobb’s population has grown 9.2 percent since 2000 when approximately 607,751 people resided in the county. Based on the U.S. Census as of July 2005 and adding a 1.5 percent growth factor, Cobb’s population is estimated at 673,775. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Atlanta Regional Commission, the U.S. population increase from July 1, 1970 to July 1, 2005 was 44.60 percent, compared with Georgia’s 99.06 percent increase for the same period. In contrast, Cobb County’s population increase for the same period was 237.32 percent. This makes Cobb County one of the fastest growing counties in the nation since 1970.

A five-member Board of Commissioners governs Cobb County. The Board is comprised of one chairman elected county-wide, and four commissioners, each elected from a separate commission district serving four-year staggered terms. A county manager, who is appointed by and responsible to the Board of Commissioners, directs the daily operation of the county. Services provided to approximately 673,775 residents living in the 340.2 square mile area include: public safety (fire, EMS, police, 911 emergency, animal control and corrections), community development, community services, transportation, and other general governmental services. The county also provides water, sewer and solid waste disposal services to the public.

Local Economy
Cobb County is part of a very select group that includes less than 1 percent of counties nationwide to have achieved a Triple AAA credit rating, and this achievement has been accomplished for the tenth year in a row. In 1995, Moody’s Investor Services awarded Cobb its first AAA rating citing strong economic growth and strong fiscal management. Cobb was the first county in Moody’s eight-state southeast region to achieve this highly coveted rating. In April of 1996, Fitch Investors also awarded Cobb with their top rating AAA. Cobb was also the first county in Fitch’s southeast region to achieve their AAA rating. Standard and Poor’s upgraded Cobb to AAA in June of 1997. The Triple AAA rating is the most highly acclaimed indicator of the overall financial strength of a community. These coveted independent ratings verify that Cobb’s sound fiscal policies and conservative management philosophy will guide Cobb into the future.

Thanks in large part to the foresight and stewardship of county leadership, today Cobb County is the leader in the metro area employing more than 439,260 within its boundaries. Currently, there are more than 29,899 businesses licensed in Cobb County. The top industries currently providing employment are professional, scientific, management, and administrative waste management services at 15.1 percent, educational, health, and social services at 15 percent, retail trade at 13 percent and manufacturing at 10 percent. The county’s unemployment rate is 4 percent, which is lower than both the state of Georgia (4.4 percent) and the United States (4.3 percent).

Although the top 10 major employers in the community account for only 13.6 percent of all those employed in Cobb County, the national recognition they bring to the county cannot be overstated. There are three Fortune 500 companies that have their headquarters in Cobb County, with 22 international companies having a presence and contributing to our dynamic business environment. The companies include Lockheed Martin, The Home Depot and IBM. Each of these companies represents a different type of commercial enterprise that has found the environment within the county to be conducive to future growth.

Major Initiatives

In order to continue to compete in a global economy and ensure continued economic growth, Cobb County must continue to address the public infrastructure that effectively serves the demands for transportation and air travel, water supply, wastewater treatment and waste disposal. To address these challenges, along with other quality of life issues, Cobb aggressively developed and adopted its first five-year rolling Capital Improvement Program (CIP) in 1990. Since that time, Cobb County opened the South Cobb Regional Library in May of 2006. The South Cobb Regional Library is 20,000 square feet, with three study rooms and 36 public Internet computers.

Cobb County’s superior service delivery and infrastructure improvements are effectively managed to maintain the lowest comparative property tax burden in the Metro Atlanta area.

Cobb’s Number One Priority…Public Safety
The Board of Commissioners has always made the safety of Cobb County residents its highest priority. The Department of Public Safety is currently in the process of replacing the 800 MHz communication system. The department will benefit from enhanced communications equipment that will enable direct radio connections between local, state and federal authorities. The updated system will improve the efficiency of emergency communications for Cobb and its cities while they work together to protect the public.

Taking the Time to Enjoy Life in Cobb

The Cobb County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department is a collaborative effort, involving employees and volunteers, government and business and organized sports and art groups, whose primary goal is quality leisure activity. New in 2006 was the implementation of the EZ-Reg online registration system. With the new EZ-Reg system, Cobb residents can register for available programs and classes 24 hours a day, seven days a week at their convenience. Cobb residents can also check to see how many people have already registered for their class choice, search for classes based on days of the week offered or by location and research their family’s registration history and payment status. Also, in the November General Election, Cobb voters approved a referendum allowing the county to issue $40 million in bond funds to purchase new park land. Steps are currently underway to prepare for purchasing new property, including the formation of a citizen’s advisory committee to ensure that all available park land is fully considered.

Moving Forward with Water/Sewer
Challenged with meeting the demands of a large growing service area of 340.2 square miles and more than 670,000 residents, the Cobb County Water System has maintained and expanded infrastructure while keeping a close eye on the environment. The Water System currently delivers 21 billion gallons of water annually through 3,000 miles of water lines to more than 495,000 citizens in the unincorporated portions of Cobb County and the cities of Acworth and Kennesaw. The Water System also collects and treats the wastewater for the entire county through 2,700 miles of sewer lines from the cities of Austell, Marietta, Powder Springs, Smyrna and small portions of Bartow, Cherokee, Douglas and Fulton counties and the City of Atlanta. Approximately 73 million gallons of wastewater are treated a day at the four wastewater treatment facilities.

Road to Progress

Cobb County DOT oversees one of Georgia’s largest county-owned road networks. In January 2006, Cobb County (unincorporated) and the six incorporated cities: Acworth, Austell, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Springs and Smyrna joined forces to conduct a 22-month Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) to focus on the review and analysis of existing transportation needs as well as future needs. The CTP will address all parts of the transportation system including roads, bridges, sidewalks, bike facilities, transit, etc. and will take 18 months to complete. Phase 1 will be completed by March 2007 which will address the transportation elements for development of City and County Comprehensive Plans. Phase 2 will follow with a targeted focus on the transportation challenges by October 2007.

County-Owned Transit System

Cobb Community Transit, which began operations in July 1989, continues to meet its goals of providing the citizens of Cobb County with a safe, reliable, attractive and cost effective public transportation system. CCT currently has 13 local routes and seven express routes. They average 15,000 trips per day during the week and 7,000 trips on Saturdays. CCT is currently in the process of replacing the old fare boxes in all buses with a new fare box system to better serve passengers. The new fare collection system is called the Breeze System. The Breeze System will allow benefits such as an automatic reloading and loss protection for registered customers. The card can also be used to store cash value for pay per ride or to load unlimited ride passes that CCT offers. The Breeze Card may be used repeatedly; however, the Breeze Ticket is a limited use paper ticket for those who use CCT infrequently. In 2006, CCT increased ridership for the fourth consecutive year to an all time high of 4.2 million trips, which represents an 11.9 percent increase over 2005. Record gas prices contributed to the increase in ridership from 2005 to 2006. Other factors include the continuation to replace the aging bus fleet at a rapid pace, along with adding additional services such as comfort, convenience and reliability.

Cobb County Airport-McCollum Field is one of the busiest single runway airports in Georgia with approximately 350 takeoffs and landings each day. The major goals of the airport are to continue development of the master plan safety enhancement projects, as reflected in the current Airport Layout Plan that is available at www.cobbcounty.org, to improve safety of McCollum Airport.

The incorporated areas of Cobb County consist of six municipalities – the cities of Acworth, Austell, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Springs and Smyrna. A mayor and city council govern each municipality.

Cobb County will observe its 175th anniversary on December 3, 2007.