COBB COUNTY - Cobb County commissioners will get an official update Tuesday afternoon on the possible transfer of the county-run economic development department to Chamber of Commerce leadership.

At its March 23 meeting, the board gave County Manager David Hankerson and staff permission to look into details of possibly outsourcing the department. Potential plans for consolidation were to be brought back to the board for consideration, but after Chamber officials began telling some residents that the merger had already been approved, Commissioner Bob Ott and Vice Chair Woody Thompson asked Hankerson for an update.

County spokesman Robert Quigley said Hankerson will give a brief history of economic development efforts in Cobb, recent opportunities and successes of the county-managed department and the status of any logistics that may have been worked out so far. Quigley said no developments have been made in the possible merger.

The Journal reported in May that former Chamber Chair and Georgia Power executive David Connell, Chamber CEO Don Beaver and current Chamber Chair Rob Garcia have been allied with former County Chairman Sam Olens and former Commissioner Tim Lee since a September 2009 deal to move the county's three-person economic development office to Chamber headquarters.

In a three-page, March 12 report drafted by Connell detailing a Chamber takeover, Connell told Hankerson, Olens, Lee, Beaver and Garcia the merger would eliminate the Cobb economic development's current image at the state level as being "slow, fragmented and ineffective, causing us to miss out on significant economic development projects that would grow the prosperity of Cobb citizens and our county."

The current office, led by Michael Hughes and overseen by Hankerson, would be centrally led by the Chamber. The "new ED Director," to be selected by the Chamber and the county, would report directly to the Chamber president and CEO, and would be better staffed and equipped if housed and operated by the Chamber, Connell claimed.

During Tuesday afternoon's work session, the board could place the outsourcing issue on Tuesday night's regular meeting agenda for consideration, but the board will likely wait until a new county chairman and other potential changes in Chamber leadership take place before voting on the issue, Quigley said.

Also Tuesday:

n During the 1:30 p.m. work session, staff will give the board an update on future budget impacts from the county's retirement incentive program, which the board approved on Jan. 12 to encourage eligible employees to retire by the end of April. Quigley said actual savings and specific impacts to future budgets will be revealed during the presentation.

A total of 236 employees accepted the retirement package, which included a one-time, lump-sum bonus on top of a worker's regular retirement pay. The bonus was calculated at 2 percent of the employee's 2009 salary times the employee's number of years with the county. Therefore, a retirement-eligible employee who earned $50,000 in 2009 and had been with the county for 20 years would have received a bonus of $20,000. That $20,000 includes payment of the employee's unused vacation and, in some cases, unused sick leave, Quigley said.

n At the board's 7 p.m. regular meeting, commissioners are expected to approve the application of a hiring grant with the U.S. Department of Justice that would create up to 20 additional police officer positions in the county.

n At the night meeting, the board is expected to approve an item that would authorize the Development Authority of Cobb County to issue $70 million in revenue bonds to the KSU Sports and Recreation Park Real Estate Foundation, LLC.

"The indebtedness will fall back on the KSU group, not on the county, so no taxpayer money is on the hook," Quigley said. "The bonds issued through the Development Authority simply give the group a better interest rate."

According to county, the Kennesaw State University foundation will use the revenue bonds to finance and refinance costs associated with athletic fields and facilities, to be located on approximately 84 acres at 3220 Busbee Drive.

Tuesday's work session and meeting will be conducted in the boardroom at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta.