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Athens-Clarke County Pulse

The Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia — a consolidated city-county government (county seat: Athens). The fiscal year runs July 1 – June 30. This page presents the FY2027 Commission Approved budget and the FY2025 Audited results, with every total labeled gross or net.

Headline figures

FY2027 · Commission Approved

Source: “FY2027 Annual Operating and Capital Budget” (FY2027) — Commission Approved figures, adopted by the Mayor and Commission on June 9, 2026.

FY2027 · Commission Approved

Total budget, NET of interfund transfers & charges

$377,263,171

FY2027 · Commission Approved

Total expenditures & other financing uses, GROSS

$428,317,258

FY2027 · Commission Approved

General Fund total

$213,555,450

2024 · ACFR

Population

129,995

Calendar year 2024, ACFR statistical schedule; source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The FY2027 budget book gives a different 2024 figure, 128,630 (U.S. Census ACS).

FY2027 · Commission Approved

Gross vs. net — gross revenues & other sources of $429,536,008; the difference between the gross and net totals is the interfund transfers & charges elimination

$51,054,087

All funds, by fund type

FY2027 · Commission Approved

Source: “FY2027 Annual Operating and Capital Budget” (FY2027). FY2027 gross expenditures & other financing uses, by fund type.

General Fund$213,555,450
Enterprise Funds$119,890,129
Internal Service Funds$45,206,497
Special Revenue Funds$27,504,532
Debt Service Funds$14,660,650
Capital Projects Funds$7,500,000
Total expenditures & other financing uses, GROSS · FY2027 $428,317,258

General Fund, by function

FY2027 · Commission Approved

Source: “FY2027 Annual Operating and Capital Budget” (FY2027).

Public Safety$91,918,494
General Government$44,498,357
Public Works$24,747,443
Judicial$16,398,225
Cultural and Recreation$10,893,182
Quasi-Governmental Agencies$8,421,926
Housing and Development$7,163,683
Debt Service$509,400
General Fund operating total · FY2027 $204,550,710
+ Other Financing Uses – Operating $1,504,740
= Subtotal $206,055,450
+ Other Financing Uses – Capital $7,500,000
= General Fund total · FY2027 Commission Approved $213,555,450

Audited results

FY2025 · Audited

Source: “Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year ended June 30, 2025” (FY2025 ACFR).

Audited · June 30, 2025

General Fund fund balance

$54,355,670

Assigned $4,132,300 + unassigned $50,223,370. Unassigned equals 25.1% of General Fund expenditures and transfers out.

Audited · June 30, 2025

Total governmental fund balances

$431,819,538

Audited · June 30, 2025

Total long-term liabilities, primary government

$495,088,407

Governmental activities $313,442,763 + business-type activities $181,645,644. This is total long-term liabilities — not bonded debt: it includes bonds/notes/COPs and premiums, leases, subscriptions, net pension liability, net OPEB liability, compensated absences, and landfill closure care. Bonded principal for context: SPLOST GO bonds $74,130,000; revenue bonds $152,745,000.

Audited · June 30, 2025

Total net position, primary government

$1,276,383,178

Positive overall — but unrestricted net position is a deficit of $(47,892,197), driven mainly by the $158,783,583 net OPEB liability, which is funded pay-as-you-go.

Governmental fund balances, by fund

SPLOST 2020$165,044,283
Nonmajor Governmental$135,604,259
TSPLOST 2023$76,815,326
General Fund$54,355,670
ARPA-CSLFRF$0
Total governmental fund balances · Audited, June 30, 2025 $431,819,538

Of the $431,819,538 governmental fund balance, $330,055,045 is Restricted — mostly SPLOST/TSPLOST capital — and is not available cash.

About the government

Source: “FY2027 Annual Operating and Capital Budget” (FY2027).

Consolidated

Clarke County and the City of Athens unified on January 14, 1991 — Georgia’s 2nd consolidated government.

Form of government

Elected Mayor + 10 Commissioners, with an appointed Manager.

Land area

~122 sq mi — the smallest of Georgia’s 159 counties by land area.

FY2027 millage

12.25 mills, unchanged.

Authorized positions

1,832 authorized full-time positions.

Fiscal year

July 1 – June 30.

Notes & disclosures

  1. All budget figures on this page are the Commission Approved FY2027 figures, adopted June 9, 2026 — not the Mayor’s Recommended budget, which proposed a different General Fund total.
  2. The budget book’s DocumentCenter URL slug reads “FY26,” but the document itself is unambiguously the FY2027 book: cover title, July 1, 2026 transmittal, FY27 tables, and a budget ordinance for July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027. The URL is cited as-is.
  3. Every total on this page is labeled gross or net: the gross total of $428,317,258 counts interfund transfers & charges in both the sending and receiving funds; the net total of $377,263,171 removes the $51,054,087 elimination.
  4. Of the $431,819,538 governmental fund balance, $330,055,045 is Restricted (mostly SPLOST/TSPLOST capital) — it is not available cash. Total net position is positive $1,276,383,178, but unrestricted net position is a deficit of $(47,892,197), driven mainly by the $158,783,583 net OPEB liability (funded pay-as-you-go).
  5. Fund balance policy: the government maintains a minimum General Fund balance of two months of operating expenditures (16.7%). The FY2027 budget uses $7,426,000 of prior-year fund balance, all for capital.
  6. The long-term liabilities figure of $495,088,407 is not bonded debt — it includes bonds/notes/COPs and premiums, leases, subscriptions, net pension liability, net OPEB liability, compensated absences, and landfill closure care. Bonded principal alone: SPLOST GO bonds $74,130,000; revenue bonds $152,745,000.
  7. Population: the ACFR statistical schedule reports 129,995 for calendar year 2024 (source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis); the FY2027 budget book gives a different 2024 figure, 128,630 (U.S. Census ACS).

Sources