County seat: Statesboro · Population 85,454 (2025, as stated in the county’s ACFR) · Fiscal year ends June 30
This page covers Bulloch County government only. Bulloch County Schools is a separate government with its own budget and audit — no school-board figures appear anywhere on this page.
Total budget — all funds Adopted
$156,127,439
FY2025 expenditures, per the adopted budget book
General Fund budget Adopted
$64,727,857
FY2025 expenditures — 41.5% of the total budget
Budgeted revenue — all funds Adopted
$142,674,540
FY2025 budget estimate, per the adopted budget book
General Fund balance Audited
$20,384,362
June 30, 2025 — of which $17,803,920 unassigned
Governmental fund balances Audited
$60,743,257
All governmental funds combined, June 30, 2025
Long-term debt obligations Audited
$7,718,251
June 30, 2025 — the ACFR notes a “strong capital asset base with minimal debt”
FY2025 · Adopted
Bulloch County’s total adopted budget for FY2025 is $156,127,439 in expenditures against $142,674,540 in anticipated revenue. The $13,452,899 gap is a planned draw on accumulated fund balance — mainly SPLOST and TSPLOST capital balances — not a deficit in the operating sense. Capital Projects spending ($61,598,628) nearly equals the General Fund because of that carryover: the book attributes the FY2025 jump (from a $128,472,602 projected FY2024 total) mainly to large capital purchases funded from previously collected sales-tax balances, including 3 fire engines, 4 ambulances, a grapple truck, a dump truck, Fletcher Park and Portal park construction, and dirt-road paving.
| Fund type | FY2025 budget |
|---|---|
| General | $62,739,212 |
| Enterprise | $4,910,100 |
| Special Revenue | $14,045,648 |
| Capital Projects | $50,472,270 |
| Internal Service | $10,507,310 |
| Total — all funds | $142,674,540 |
| Category | FY2025 budget |
|---|---|
| Personnel Services | $51,062,995 |
| Materials, Supplies | $23,915,999 |
| Capital Outlay | $42,115,697 |
| Interfund Transfer | $1,576,716 |
| Other Costs | $15,155,581 |
| Debt Service | $3,080,380 |
| Intergovernmental | $19,220,071 |
| Depreciation (non-cash) | — |
| Total expenditures | $156,127,439 |
Depreciation is blank in the budget book’s FY2025 budget column. Per the book’s own disclosure, the Enterprise Funds budget excludes depreciation (a non-cash item) and instead includes a $485,000 debt principal payment and $1,042,500 of capital outlays — cash expenditures that are not expenses for financial reporting — so adopted Enterprise totals are not directly comparable to the enterprise expenses in the audited financial statements.
Source: Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget Book, County of Bulloch — “Consolidated Financials” page (OpenGov Stories), FY2025 adopted figures. View the budget book page
FY2025 · Projected — budget book
When the FY2025 budget was adopted, the budget book projected that fund balances across all fund types would fall from $71,026,988 to $57,574,089 by June 30, 2025 — the mirror image of the planned $13,452,899 draw for capital spending. These are projections made at adoption time, labeled “Projected” exactly as the book labels them. They are not audited results, and they are not comparable to the audited governmental fund balances below: the budget-book total covers all fund types including Enterprise and Internal Service funds, while the audited governmental-funds statement does not.
| Fund type | Beginning 7/1/2024 (projected) | Ending 6/30/2025 (projected) | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | $21,003,530 | $19,014,885 | −$1,988,645 | −9.47% |
| Enterprise | $5,927,556 | $6,092,172 | +$164,616 | +2.78% |
| Special Revenue | $4,488,583 | $3,722,981 | −$765,602 | −17.06% |
| Capital Projects | $38,992,738 | $27,866,380 | −$11,126,358 | −28.53% |
| Internal Service | $614,581 | $877,671 | +$263,090 | +42.81% |
| Total — all fund types | $71,026,988 | $57,574,089 | −$13,452,899 | −18.94% |
The budget book states that the FY2024-2025 beginning fund balance “is a projection and does not reflect actual fund performance for the FY 2023-2024 fiscal year.” The audited outcome differed: the General Fund actually ended FY2025 at $20,384,362, not the projected $19,014,885.
Source: Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget Book, County of Bulloch — “Fund Balance” page (OpenGov Stories), projected figures as printed. View the Fund Balance page
FY2025 · Audited — ACFR
Everything in this section comes from the county’s audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Report — a separate document from the budget book above, with its own figures. The two sources are never mixed in one panel here: where their General Fund budget figures differ, the difference is disclosed in the notes below.
Hurricane Helene (September 2024) and Tropical Storm Debby drove audited General Fund expenditures to $77,483,088 — well above the adopted budget. The surge was driven mainly by Helene debris removal (General Fund Sanitation alone came in at $14,447,704), higher self-funded employee health-insurance costs, and added public-safety positions in the Sheriff’s Office and EMS. Revenues were lifted by FEMA reimbursements for Hurricane Idalia, Tropical Storm Debby, and Hurricane Helene, plus higher-than-expected Hospital Authority funding — and substantial FEMA reimbursements were still pending at year-end, which the ACFR expects within 6–12 months. Any “spending vs. budget” comparison for FY2025 that omits this context will misread as overspending.
Unassigned fund balance equals 23.0% of total General Fund expenditures (total fund balance: 26.3%). The Board’s reserve target is 25% unassigned — FY2025 closed below target, which the ACFR attributes to delayed FEMA reimbursements for storm work; it expects the reserve to return above target once those reimbursements arrive.
| Original budget | Final budget | Actual | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues | $62,351,212 | $72,311,212 | $73,678,990 |
| Expenditures | $64,607,056 | $79,495,484 | $77,483,088 |
Actual revenues came in $1,367,778 over the final budget; actual expenditures $2,012,396 under it. The final budget was raised sharply mid-year, principally for storm response — Sanitation’s final budget was $14,447,704 against a $3,141,672 original. Note that the ACFR’s original budget figures differ slightly from the adopted budget book’s General Fund figures — see the disclosure below.
Most of the balance outside the General Fund is restricted sales-tax money (SPLOST/TSPLOST) held for capital projects — it is not available for general operations.
| Obligation | Governmental | Business-type | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leases | $103,761 | — | $103,761 |
| Subscriptions (SBITA) | $277,163 | — | $277,163 |
| Notes payable | $42,594 | — | $42,594 |
| Bonds payable | $192,796 | $3,822,475 | $4,015,271 |
| Compensated absences | $3,246,979 | $32,483 | $3,279,462 |
| Total long-term debt obligations | $3,863,293 | $3,854,958 | $7,718,251 |
Total obligations fell $2,681,285 during FY2025, from $10,399,536 (FY2024, as restated), on scheduled principal reductions. The business-type bonds-payable carrying amount of $3,822,475 is $3,735,000 of principal plus $87,475 of unamortized premium; $500,000 of principal was paid in FY2025. The governmental bonds ($192,796) are direct-placement bonds.
Not in the debt table: the net pension liability of $11,074,077 (governmental $10,980,936; business-type $93,141) is reported separately on the Statement of Net Position. Total noncurrent liabilities are $17,301,961 — a different, broader figure than the $7,718,251 of long-term debt obligations above, and the two should not be conflated.
Source: Bulloch County, Georgia, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Fiscal year ended June 30, 2025 (Bulloch County Finance Department) — audited figures. Read the FY2025 ACFR (PDF)
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