Clayton County's Powerful Licensing Tech Sets the Bar High

• Industry: County
• Location: Clayton County, Georgia
• Employees: 647
• Population: 297,100
• Tyler Client Since: 2017
• Tyler Products Used: Enterprise Permitting & Licensing (powered by EnerGov), Workforce Mobile, Civic Access, Payments, Enterprise ERP (powered by Munis), Cashiering, Enforcement Mobile, Content Manager 

Client Background

Clayton County, Georgia, is a relaxed yet modern suburb, home to the busiest airport in the world, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As the sixth most populous county in Georgia, just south of downtown Atlanta, its neighborly ways and thriving metropolitan life inspired its 297,100 residents to call Clayton home.
 

Challenges

The initial challenge with new technology is finding an implementation strategy that fits the municipality’s unique processes, staff and constituency needs, and current data streams. Getting it right at the start is important, as licensing plays an essential role in economic development. Efficient business management sets the stage for job opportunities and an active business environment that captures large business headquarters.

The number of Clayton’s license renewals underlined its healthy business life. They processed 4,400 business license renewals in 2022 and anticipate an increased number in 2023. Clayton needed a better way to manage commercial versus home-based businesses and the various fees, the submission to issuance workflow, and renewals based on an end-of-calendar-year expiration.  

Solution

Clayton County embraced innovative technology in 2018 by implementing Tyler Technologies’ Enterprise ERP. Population growth and evolving business licensing trends prompted the decision to move permitting and licensing departments to an integrated platform, making Tyler’s solutions the perfect choice.  Project leaders mapped out implementation to better manage licensing types, accelerate issuance, and simplify renewals. 

Results

This Georgia county reconfigured its business licensing into categories that made more sense. Their new configuration consisted of commercial businesses, dual and short-term rentals, and designated home-based as a different type. Jeremy Tisdell, business licenses manager of Clayton County Board of Commissioners Community Development, described one of the benefits of this change. “Separating a commercial from a home-based business helps with code enforcement.”

Clayton leveraged its code configuration capabilities using National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) codes to calculate and add fees for business licenses. Tisdell described how Enterprise Permitting & Licensing automated late fees. “Enterprise Permitting & Licensing picks up our codes to assess business license late fees.”  This public sector-focused software enabled Clayton to automate the collection of a 10% penalty with a 1.5% administration late fee and calculate interest for the months a business is behind on payment.

Tisdell spoke on the importance of automating the licensing renewal process. “Online, we can verify that the information provided is correct, email the invoice, process their payment, and issue the license.”  Automation simplified the process, took time and guesswork out of manual fee calculation, informed license holders of fee amounts, and provided an easier payment method. Clayton is poised for future growth and prosperity with its virtual business licensing.

Why is community growth suddenly so complex? Remote work disrupted population shifts, and public online tech expectations caught some municipalities off guard. Digital solutions that are relatively easy to implement help local governments stay in step with rapid change. Ironically, simpler planning and development processes dedicated to community growth solve the complexities pressuring municipalities into modern ways of operating.