Overview
Blairsville's auditor, Rushton, LLC (Gainesville, Georgia), issued an unmodified opinion: the FY2024 financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the City's financial position as of December 31, 2024. The City reports governmental activities (general government, judicial, public safety, public works, culture and recreation, housing and development) and two business-type enterprise funds — Water and Sewerage, and the Airport.
In FY2024 the City as a whole increased its net position by $215,268 before a $49,555 change in accounting principle: governmental activities gained $709,008 while business-type activities lost $493,740, and after the accounting-principle restatement the net position rose from $32,853,877 (as previously reported) to $33,019,590 — a net increase of $165,713. The General Fund itself grew: its fund balance rose $438,172, from $5,030,466 to $5,468,638.
Source: City of Blairsville FY2024 Annual Financial Report, Independent Auditor's Report (Rushton, LLC, March 28, 2025) and Management's Discussion and Analysis — audited FY2024 report (PDF).
At a glance — FY2024 audited
Source: FY2024 audit, Management's Discussion and Analysis and Statement of Net Position — audited FY2024 report (PDF).
Net position — December 31, 2024
Net position is what remains after liabilities and deferred inflows are subtracted from assets and deferred outflows. Each column below sums exactly to its total.
| Component | City total |
|---|---|
| Net investment in capital assets | $21,862,838 |
| Restricted | $2,755,853 |
| Unrestricted | $8,400,899 |
| Total net position | $33,019,590 |
| Net position by activity | Governmental | Business-type | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net investment in capital assets | $2,159,689 | $19,703,149 | $21,862,838 |
| Restricted | $2,455,331 | $300,522 | $2,755,853 |
| Unrestricted | $5,320,331 | $3,080,568 | $8,400,899 |
| Total | $9,935,351 | $23,084,239 | $33,019,590 |
Restricted detail (sums to the $2,755,853 above): capital outlay $2,454,164, debt service $300,522, law enforcement $1,167.
Change during FY2024: governmental activities +$709,008, business-type activities −$493,740, combined +$215,268; less a $49,555 change in accounting principle, the restated beginning balance of $32,804,322 rose to the $33,019,590 ending balance above.
Source: Statement of Net Position, pp. 15–16, and Statement of Activities, p. 17 — audited FY2024 report (PDF).
General Fund — FY2024 actuals vs. final budget
The General Fund is the City's chief operating fund. It took in $2,592,758 against a final budget of $2,381,400 ($211,358 over), and spent $2,400,640 against a final budget of $2,398,648 ($1,992 over). Revenues covered expenditures, so the fund balance grew.
Revenues — $2,592,758
| Source | Actual |
|---|---|
| Taxes | $2,126,725 |
| Interest | $194,139 |
| Fines and forfeitures | $127,504 |
| Intergovernmental | $49,150 |
| Charges for services | $47,540 |
| Licenses and permits | $45,648 |
| Other | $2,052 |
| Total revenues | $2,592,758 |
Expenditures — $2,400,640
| Function | Actual |
|---|---|
| Public safety — Police | $1,368,998 |
| General government — General administration | $554,107 |
| Public works — Streets | $319,603 |
| Judicial — Municipal court | $75,766 |
| Housing and development — Downtown development | $63,884 |
| Culture and recreation — Library | $11,000 |
| Debt service — Principal | $7,282 |
| Total expenditures | $2,400,640 |
Fund balance walk
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Beginning balance, Jan 1, 2024 | $5,030,466 |
| Revenues over expenditures | $192,118 |
| Other financing sources, net (transfers in $153 + sale of capital assets $211,119 + leases issued $34,782) | $246,054 |
| Ending balance, Dec 31, 2024 | $5,468,638 |
Of that ending balance, $4,784,428 is unassigned (87.5% of the total) — about 199% of General Fund expenditures, while the total balance is about 228% of expenditures, the audit's own liquidity measures.
Source: General Fund Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances — Budget (GAAP) and Actual, p. 22, and Governmental Funds statement, p. 20 — audited FY2024 report (PDF).
All governmental funds — FY2024
Beyond the General Fund, the City reports SPLOST IV and SPLOST V capital-project funds and other (nonmajor) governmental funds. Every row below sums across to its total.
| Fund | Revenues | Expenditures | Ending balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Fund | $2,592,758 | $2,400,640 | $5,468,638 |
| SPLOST IV Capital Projects | $13,042 | $372,630 | $313,306 |
| SPLOST V Capital Projects | $723,696 | $117,690 | $1,937,719 |
| Other governmental funds | $175,040 | $144,495 | $384,866 |
| Total governmental funds | $3,504,536 | $3,035,455 | $8,104,529 |
Combined, the governmental funds gained $469,081 on operations (revenues $3,504,536 minus expenditures $3,035,455), plus $151,640 of net other financing sources, for a net fund-balance increase of $620,721 — from $7,483,808 to $8,104,529. SPLOST IV's balance fell $359,588 as projects continued; SPLOST V's rose $519,139.
Government-wide tax revenues (all governmental activities) total $2,290,402: sales tax $1,648,590, property tax $159,314, alcoholic beverage tax $161,532, other taxes $174,337, business occupation tax $67,249, insurance premium tax $58,771, franchise tax $20,609 — that breakdown sums exactly to the total.
Source: Governmental Funds Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances, p. 20, and Statement of Activities, p. 17 — audited FY2024 report (PDF).
Enterprise funds — FY2024
The City runs two enterprise funds: Water and Sewerage, and the Airport. Both lost money on operations in FY2024, and both ended the year with lower net position than they started with (after restatement for the Water and Sewerage fund).
| Enterprise fund | Operating revenues | Operating expenses | Operating income (loss) | Change in net position | Ending net position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water and Sewerage | $3,134,570 | $3,362,938 | −$228,368 | −$144,693 | $11,234,698 |
| Airport | $683,348 | $961,477 | −$278,129 | −$349,047 | $11,849,541 |
| Total | $3,817,918 | $4,324,415 | −$506,497 | −$493,740 | $23,084,239 |
Water and Sewerage operating revenues — $3,134,570
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Water charges | $1,411,287 |
| Sewer charges | $1,258,874 |
| Water and sewer tap fees | $278,107 |
| Miscellaneous | $186,302 |
| Total operating revenues | $3,134,570 |
Water and Sewerage operating expenses — $3,362,938
| Expense | Amount |
|---|---|
| Personnel services | $1,333,034 |
| Costs of sales and services | $1,242,397 |
| Depreciation | $787,507 |
| Total operating expenses | $3,362,938 |
Airport operating revenues — $683,348; expenses — $961,477
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Airport charges | $678,345 |
| Miscellaneous | $5,003 |
| Operating revenues | $683,348 |
| Personnel services | $151,710 |
| Costs of sales and services | $501,282 |
| Depreciation | $308,485 |
| Operating expenses | $961,477 |
Below operations, nonoperating items cost the enterprises a net $136,098 (interest revenue $139,732, less interest expense $150,198 and a net $125,632 loss on sale of capital assets); the Airport also received $54,594 of intergovernmental capital contributions, and the Water and Sewerage fund received a $94,261 transfer in. Water and Sewerage's full-year decrease including its $20,707 accounting-principle restatement was $165,400; the Airport's was $349,047. Note the Airport's unrestricted net position is negative (−$169,220) — its net position sits in capital assets ($12,018,761) — while Water and Sewerage holds $3,249,788 unrestricted.
Source: Proprietary Funds Statement of Revenues, Expenses, and Changes in Net Position, p. 24, and Statement of Net Position — Proprietary Funds, p. 23 — audited FY2024 report (PDF).
Debt & capital assets
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Business-type debt — notes payable (current $165,006 + noncurrent $1,176,093) | $1,341,099 |
| Business-type debt — bonds payable (current $76,204 + noncurrent $3,324,336) | $3,400,540 |
| Total business-type debt outstanding | $4,741,639 |
| Governmental leases payable (current $6,638 + noncurrent $20,862) | $27,500 |
| All long-term debt and leases above | $4,769,139 |
| Capital assets, net — governmental | $2,187,189 |
| Capital assets, net — business-type | $24,458,968 |
| Capital assets, net — total | $26,646,157 |
Business-type debt fell $235,891 during the year (from $4,977,530) through scheduled principal payments. Capital assets, net, fell from $27,478,885 in 2023 to $26,646,157 — about 3.0% — as depreciation outpaced additions. Roughly 92% of the net capital investment is in business-type activities.
Questions about the report itself may be addressed to the City of Blairsville, Georgia, P.O. Box 307, Blairsville, GA 30514, 706-745-2000, per the audit's contact notice.
Source: Management's Discussion and Analysis (capital assets and long-term debt) and Statement of Net Position, pp. 15–16 — audited FY2024 report (PDF).
Sources & notes
- Only source used: City of Blairsville, Georgia, Annual Financial Report for the year ended December 31, 2024 (audited; Rushton, LLC, report dated March 28, 2025). Read the audit (PDF, UGA TED portal).
- Sum checks: every breakdown table on this page was added up before publishing; each shown total equals the sum of its shown parts, including net position ($33,019,590), General Fund revenues ($2,592,758) and expenditures ($2,400,640), all governmental funds ($3,504,536 / $3,035,455 / $8,104,529), enterprise operating revenues ($3,817,918) and expenses ($4,324,415), business-type debt ($4,741,639), and capital assets, net ($26,646,157).
- What is missing: this page has no current-year budget, no FY2025 or FY2026 actuals, and no population, staffing, or service-level figures — the FY2024 audit does not supply them in a form used here, and none were invented. A newer verified document would be needed to update this dashboard.
- Excluded: the Downtown Development Authority component unit (net position $882,154) is reported separately in the audit and is not included in any primary-government total on this page.
- City palette: no high- or medium-confidence City of Blairsville palette was on file, so this page uses the neutral Peach State Pulse dark-glass theme rather than a city color.