Business owners on the Clayton County side of the Atlanta airport have taken a major step toward organizing a self-taxing group to tackle infrastructure issues.

Clayton County commissioners approved last week a $50,000 grant to fund the remainder of a certification process to form the Airport South Community Improvement District. A CID levies an additional tax on business properties and uses the proceeds to leverage other funding for infrastructure and other community improvement goals.

CIDs are prominent across the northern suburbs such as Central Perimeter, where they have helped launch new transportation projects.

Airport South would be Clayton’s first such entity and join the Airport West CID formed in Fulton County last year. Developers including Ackerman & Co. and OA Development are leading the effort. CIDs in the northern and eastern suburbs have helped fund interchange projects such as the diverging diamond at Ashford-Dunwoody and I-285.