FY2023 Audited Finances — fiscal year ended December 31, 2023
Every figure on this page is FY2023 audited. Baldwin County’s fiscal year is the calendar year. No adopted budget book is published for the county, so no figure here is a current budget — all numbers come from the audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Total net position is $112,622,447 — but it is more than fully invested in capital assets ($128,721,414) plus restricted amounts ($4,146,255). Against that sits an unrestricted deficit of −$20,245,222 — governmental activities −$14,895,727 and business-type activities −$5,349,495 — stated plainly, as the audit states it.
Governmental fund balances also fell $4,412,543 during FY2023.
| Fund | Fund balance |
|---|---|
| General Fund | $7,486,373 |
| SPLOST 2017 Capital Projects Fund | $2,880,478 |
| Other (nonmajor) governmental funds | $714,686 |
| Total governmental fund balances | $11,081,537 |
Inside the nonmajor total: the nonmajor special revenue funds carry a −$714,654 unassigned deficit, offset by restricted and other classifications within those funds.
| Source | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes | $34,874,581 | 64.7% |
| Intergovernmental | $10,163,646 | 18.9% |
| Charges for services | $5,619,340 | 10.4% |
| Fines & forfeitures | $2,381,154 | 4.4% |
| Licenses & permits | $251,099 | 0.5% |
| Miscellaneous | $553,118 | 1.0% |
| Investment earnings | $22,302 | 0.0% |
| Contributions | $17,100 | 0.0% |
| Total governmental revenues | $53,882,340 | 100% |
For context, on the accrual (government-wide) basis the largest general revenues were property taxes $16,249,792 and sales taxes $16,060,336.
| Function | Amount |
|---|---|
| Public safety | $18,972,791 |
| Public works | $6,911,630 |
| General government | $6,903,346 |
| Capital outlay | $6,374,929 |
| Housing & development | $5,902,564 |
| Judicial | $4,540,131 |
| Debt service — principal | $3,295,876 |
| Culture & recreation | $2,592,177 |
| Health & welfare | $868,220 |
| Debt service — interest | $348,768 |
| Intergovernmental | $25,882 |
| Total governmental expenditures | $56,736,314 |
Public safety alone is about one-third of all governmental spending. Expenditures exceeded revenues by $2,853,974 on the fund basis in FY2023.
| Line | Original budget | Final budget | Actual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues | $25,675,000 | $29,051,800 | $30,380,672 |
| Expenditures | $25,126,800 | $30,876,655 | $31,426,988 |
| Net change in fund balance | +$216,000 | −$1,815,055 | −$5,014,723 |
| Fund balance — beginning of year | — | — | $12,501,096 |
| Fund balance — end of year | — | — | $7,486,373 |
| Line | Water Fund | Solid Waste Fund | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating revenues | $5,768,544 | $430,680 | $6,199,224 |
| Operating income (loss) | −$856,740 | $430,680 | −$426,060 |
| Transfers in | $4,415,850 | — | $4,415,850 |
| Change in net position | +$3,321,119 | +$430,680 | +$3,751,799 |
| Ending net position | $24,174,231 | −$2,407,347 (deficit) | $21,766,884 |
Solid Waste Fund carries the closed landfill — a closure/postclosure care liability of $1,226,900 in total across both phases — and ends with a −$2,407,347 net position deficit. Other deficit funds disclosed in the audit: E-911 Fund −$653,204 and Unincorporated Special Service District −$41,864.
The financial-statement opinion was unmodified (clean). The auditors still reported the following. The county was not a low-risk auditee. There were no federal-award findings.
FY2023 vehicle leases were not properly accounted for under GASB 87; leases payable were misstated by $2,309,458 before audit adjustment.
A lack of segregation of duties in county agencies — a repeat finding.
Clerk of Superior Court bank accounts were not properly reconciled — a repeat finding.
The Jail / public safety line exceeded appropriations by $864,642 (inmate medical costs), and transfers out exceeded budget by $4,206,546. The General Fund also wrote off an uncollectible loan to the Water Fund.
Originally $26,000,000. The entire remaining balance matured in 2024.
FY2023 pledged-revenue coverage: 4.33×. Bonds payable in total: $5,204,328.
$639,805 at 4.2% due 2028 · $3,640,113 at 3.0% due 2037 · $1,738,522 at 1.25% due 2041 (that note included $500,000 of principal forgiveness).
The primary government reports no net OPEB liability, so no county OPEB figure is published on this page.
The Department of Public Health is a discretely presented component unit. Its figures are not included in any county total on this page.
Source for every figure on this page: Baldwin County, Georgia — Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Year Ended December 31, 2023. Audited by Butler, Williams & Wyche, LLP; unmodified opinions; report dated June 27, 2024.
Read the FY2023 ACFR (PDF, UGA Carl Vinson Institute TED portal)
Provenance: figures were transcribed from the TED-hosted ACFR and are queued for re-verification against the source PDF. This is an audited-only page: the county publishes no adopted budget book, and no figure here should be read as a current-year budget.