O.C.G.A. § 8-3-102 (2019)

(a) The governing body of each of two or more contiguous counties may by resolution declare that there is a need for one regional housing authority to be created for all such counties to exercise in such counties powers and other functions prescribed for a regional housing authority, only if such governing body finds:

(1) That insanitary or unsafe inhabited dwelling accommodations exist in such county or there is a shortage of safe or sanitary dwelling accommodations in such county available to persons of low income at rentals they can afford; and

(2) That a regional housing authority would be a more efficient or economical administrative unit than the housing authority of such county.

(b) In determining whether dwelling accommodations are unsafe or insanitary, the governing body of a county shall take into consideration the safety and sanitation of dwellings, the light and air space available to the inhabitants of such dwellings, the degree of overcrowding, the size and arrangement of the rooms, and the extent to which conditions which endanger life or property by fire or other causes exist in such dwellings.