A Fulton County commissioner salary is $65,000 per year for each of the six district commissioners and $120,000 for the Board chairperson. Those base figures were set by Georgia House Bill 1454, signed in May 2024 and effective July 1, 2024.1Georgia Governor’s Office. House Bill 1454 (As Passed House and Senate) Annual cost-of-living adjustments authorized under state law can push actual pay modestly higher than the base in any given year.
Current Base Pay
HB 1454 rewrote the compensation provisions of the 1880 act that created the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. The chairperson’s base went from roughly $53,700 to $120,000. District commissioner pay rose from about $44,800 to $65,000. Those earlier figures had not been meaningfully updated in years.
The same law reclassified the chairperson as a full-time position, recognizing that presiding over a county of more than one million residents is not part-time work.1Georgia Governor’s Office. House Bill 1454 (As Passed House and Senate) The six district commissioners remain classified as part-time, though they attend regular public meetings, handle constituent services, draft legislation, and sit on multiple committees throughout the year.2Fulton County Government. Fulton County Governance Most hold outside jobs alongside their commission duties.
Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustments
HB 1454 ties Fulton commissioners into the statewide framework for pay supplements by allowing them to receive “compensation supplements and increases as provided by general law for county governing authorities.”1Georgia Governor’s Office. House Bill 1454 (As Passed House and Senate) Each year the Georgia General Assembly may approve a COLA or merit increase for state employees. The same percentage is then applied, statewide, to the base salary plus prior accumulated COLA amounts of county officials, including commissioners. For 2025 the state-authorized COLA was 4 percent, capped at $3,000. Every Georgia county commissioner receives this adjustment regardless of when they took office.
Fulton County’s own annual budget may also include a COLA for its workforce. For fiscal year 2026 the county approved a 3.45 percent adjustment for employees. Whether that county-level COLA stacks on the state COLA for commissioners depends on how the board structures its budget resolution. The county has not published a single consolidated figure reflecting all adjustments applied since July 2024, so the actual paycheck is likely somewhat above the HB 1454 base.
Travel Allowance and Expense Reimbursement
Commissioners receive a monthly automobile or travel allowance to offset personal vehicle use for county business across the metro area. The amount is set through the budget process and has historically been in the range of several hundred dollars per month, though the county does not prominently publish the current figure.
Out-of-town travel for conferences, training, and legislative sessions is covered under the county’s travel policy. Expenses outside the Atlanta metro area are reimbursable, meal per diems are paid in advance for approved trips, and hotel, transportation, and registration costs go on a departmental travel card rather than being reimbursed after the fact.3Fulton County Government. Travel, Training, Parking and Automobile Allowance/Mileage Reimbursement Policy All expenses are subject to county auditing standards.
Health Insurance and Retirement
Fulton County offers eligible elected officials the same menu of health plans available to employees, including a self-insured Point of Service plan, a Consumer Driven Health Plan with HSA option, vision coverage, and a fully insured Kaiser Permanente HMO, with dependent coverage available.4Fulton County Government. File 25-0710 – Health Insurance Plan Renewal The county subsidizes a significant share of the premiums. Exact commissioner contribution amounts are not separately published.
Retirement is a different story. The county’s Defined Contribution Plan, which contributes 8 percent of pay with a 6 percent employee contribution, excludes any Board of Commissioners member first elected or appointed after August 1, 1988.5Fulton County Government. Defined Contribution Plan Every current commissioner took office after that date, so none participates in the main county retirement plan. The county does not publish specific retirement benefit details for elected officials.
How Commissioner Pay Can Change
Two layers of law govern commissioner pay. The local act (the 1880 act as amended by HB 1454) sets the dollar amounts. General state law, specifically O.C.G.A. § 36-5-24, constrains how and when those amounts can be changed.6Justia Law. Georgia Code 36-5-24 – Definitions; Compensation of Members of County Governing Authorities
Under § 36-5-24, a salary increase for members of a county governing authority cannot take effect until January 1 of the year following the next general election after the increase is approved. The county must publish notice of the proposed increase, with its fiscal impact, in the legal organ newspaper for three consecutive weeks before voting on it. And no raise can be approved during the window between the start of candidate qualifying and January 1 after qualifying ends.6Justia Law. Georgia Code 36-5-24 – Definitions; Compensation of Members of County Governing Authorities Sitting commissioners cannot vote themselves an immediate raise, and voters get a chance to respond at the ballot box before the increase kicks in.