Overview
Waycross reports two kinds of activity: governmental activities (general government, public safety, public works, community development, judicial) and business-type activities (the Public Utilities, Waste Management, City Auditorium, and Stormwater enterprise funds).
FY2025 pulled in two directions. Government-wide, the City's net position grew by $4,096,609 — governmental activities up $5,012,409, business-type activities down $915,800. But the governmental funds — the cash-basis view the City budgets from — lost $1,091,011 of fund balance in the same year, and the General Fund alone drew down $1,347,408. The gap between those two views is mostly capital: the funds expense capital outlay at once, while the government-wide statements spread it as depreciation, and capital outlay exceeded depreciation by $3,321,415 in FY2025 (see the reconciliation in the Governmental funds section).
Two flags deserve attention. First, the General Fund spent $16,061,467 against a final budget of $15,246,485 — $814,982 over budget — while revenues came in $588,713 under budget. Second, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund ended FY2025 in a $1,593,924 deficit after spending $2,710,966 against $1,038,538 of revenue.
Source: City of Waycross FY2025 Financial Report, Independent Auditor's Report, Statement of Net Position, Statement of Activities, and Governmental Funds statements — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
At a glance — FY2025 audited
Source: FY2025 audit, Statement of Net Position and fund statements — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
Net position — June 30, 2025
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. Note the split: governmental activities hold most of the restricted balance, while governmental unrestricted net position is negative — the City's unrestricted cushion sits almost entirely in the enterprise funds.
| Component | City total |
|---|---|
| Net investment in capital assets | $59,471,562 |
| Restricted — capital projects | $7,749,563 |
| Restricted — other projects | $2,789,391 |
| Unrestricted | $316,085 |
| Total net position | $70,326,601 |
| Net position by activity | Governmental | Business-type | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net investment in capital assets | $33,402,886 | $26,068,676 | $59,471,562 |
| Restricted — capital projects | $7,749,563 | $0 | $7,749,563 |
| Restricted — other projects | $2,789,391 | $0 | $2,789,391 |
| Unrestricted | −$4,145,050 | $4,461,135 | $316,085 |
| Total | $39,796,790 | $30,529,811 | $70,326,601 |
Change in net position — FY2025
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Net position, beginning of year | $66,229,992 |
| Governmental activities change | $5,012,409 |
| Business-type activities change | −$915,800 |
| Net position, end of year | $70,326,601 |
Source: Statement of Net Position and Statement of Activities, pp. 5–6 — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
General Fund — FY2025 actuals vs. final budget
The General Fund is the City's chief operating fund. It took in $14,317,772 against a final budget of $14,906,485 ($588,713 under), and spent $16,061,467 against a final budget of $15,246,485 ($814,982 over). The budgeted plan already anticipated a $340,000 deficiency covered by transfers in; the actual deficiency was $1,743,695, and even after $396,287 of transfers in, the fund balance fell $1,347,408.
Revenues — $14,317,772
| Source | Actual |
|---|---|
| Taxes | $11,944,298 |
| Fines and forfeitures | $745,406 |
| Licenses and permits | $1,051,225 |
| Charges for services | $47,913 |
| Investment earnings | $231,751 |
| Other revenues | $297,179 |
| Total revenues | $14,317,772 |
Expenditures — $16,061,467
| Function | Actual |
|---|---|
| Public safety | $7,372,148 |
| General government | $3,807,659 |
| Public works | $3,350,158 |
| Community development | $876,575 |
| Judicial | $383,576 |
| Debt service — principal | $247,936 |
| Debt service — interest | $23,415 |
| Total expenditures | $16,061,467 |
Fund balance walk
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Beginning balance, July 1, 2024 | $3,787,427 |
| Revenues under expenditures | −$1,743,695 |
| Transfers in | $396,287 |
| Ending balance, June 30, 2025 | $2,440,019 |
That ending balance is $32,171 nonspendable (inventories) plus $2,407,848 unassigned — about 15% of General Fund expenditures. The budget statement's largest single variance was taxes, $926,037 under the $12,870,335 budget; on the spending side, general government ran $332,915 over its final budget and an unbudgeted $383,576 of judicial spending appeared in actuals.
Source: General Fund Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances — Budget (GAAP Basis) and Actual, p. 10, and Governmental Funds statement, p. 8 — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
All governmental funds — FY2025
Beyond the General Fund, the City reports the ARPA fund, SPLOST 2014, SPLOST 2023, TSPLOST, and nonmajor governmental funds. The audit's fund-column headers are scrambled in the extracted text, so the three sales-tax funds and the nonmajor funds are shown combined here rather than risk mislabeling one of them; the combined column sums exactly to the audit's totals. Every row below sums across to its total.
| Fund | Revenues | Expenditures | Ending balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Fund | $14,317,772 | $16,061,467 | $2,440,019 |
| ARPA Fund | $1,038,538 | $2,710,966 | −$1,593,924 |
| SPLOST / TSPLOST / nonmajor, combined | $5,318,537 | $3,019,380 | $10,689,063 |
| Total governmental funds | $20,674,847 | $21,791,813 | $11,535,158 |
Combined, the governmental funds spent $1,116,966 more than they took in (revenues $20,674,847 minus expenditures $21,791,813), partly offset by $25,955 of net other financing sources, for a net fund-balance decrease of $1,091,011 — from $12,626,169 to $11,535,158. The ARPA fund's deficit is the exception to an otherwise positive picture: it spent $2,710,966 (all community development) against $1,038,538 of revenue and closed the year $1,593,924 in deficit.
Why the funds fell but net position rose
| Reconciling item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Net change in governmental fund balances | −$1,091,011 |
| Capital outlay exceeded depreciation | $3,321,415 |
| Revenues not providing current resources | $1,886,486 |
| Internal Service Funds net revenue | $541,106 |
| Long-term debt principal payments | $247,936 |
| Pension expense / compensated absences, net | $106,477 |
| Change in governmental net position | $5,012,409 |
Source: Governmental Funds Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances, p. 8, and Reconciliation to the Statement of Activities, p. 9 — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
Enterprise funds — FY2025
Waycross runs four enterprise funds. Together they took in $10,190,928 of operating revenue against $11,750,086 of operating expense — an operating loss of $1,559,158 — and, after $716,052 of capital contributions to Public Utilities and $25,955 of net transfers out, their net position fell $915,800. Only Stormwater operated in the black.
| Fund | Operating revenues | Operating expenses | Operating income (loss) | Ending net position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Utilities | $6,846,619 | $8,199,928 | −$1,353,309 | $29,630,658 |
| Waste Management | $2,522,647 | $2,809,908 | −$287,261 | $43,720 |
| City Auditorium | $34,287 | $212,408 | −$178,121 | $323,632 |
| Stormwater | $787,375 | $527,842 | $259,533 | $531,801 |
| Total enterprise | $10,190,928 | $11,750,086 | −$1,559,158 | $30,529,811 |
Public Utilities operating expenses — $8,199,928
| Expense | Amount |
|---|---|
| Contractual services | $2,997,709 |
| Personnel services | $2,050,316 |
| Other supplies and expenses | $1,659,498 |
| Depreciation | $1,304,658 |
| Repairs and maintenance | $187,747 |
| Total operating expenses | $8,199,928 |
Public Utilities' walk: operating loss $1,353,309, less $46,739 interest expense, plus $716,052 capital contributions, less $345,992 transfers out, equals a $1,029,988 decrease in net position — from $30,660,646 to $29,630,658. Waste Management's $287,261 operating loss was more than offset by $320,037 of transfers in, for a $32,776 increase. The Internal Service Funds (fleet/insurance-type activity charged back to funds) are reported separately at a $1,999,613 net deficit and are folded into governmental activities, not into the enterprise total above.
Source: Proprietary Funds Statements of Revenues, Expenses, and Changes in Net Position, pp. 14–15, and Statement of Net Position — Proprietary Funds, pp. 12–13 — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
Debt & capital assets
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Lease liabilities — governmental | $245,415 |
| Financed purchases — governmental | $601,216 |
| Notes payable — governmental | $342,500 |
| Loans payable — business-type (Public Utilities) | $4,224,953 |
| Loans, notes, leases & financed purchases | $5,414,084 |
| Compensated absences — governmental | $703,662 |
| Net pension liability — governmental | $3,301,551 |
| Capital assets, net — governmental | $34,592,017 |
| Capital assets, net — business-type | $30,293,629 |
| Capital assets, net — total | $64,885,646 |
Lease detail: $131,104 due within one year plus $114,311 due later. Financed purchases: $194,246 due within one year plus $406,970 later. Notes: $30,000 due within one year plus $312,500 later. Loans: $322,688 due within one year plus $3,902,265 later. Capital assets split into nondepreciable ($11,318,344) and depreciable net ($53,567,302), which sum to the $64,885,646 above.
Source: Statement of Net Position, p. 5 — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
Sources & notes
- Only source used: City of Waycross, Georgia, Financial Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025 (audited; Independent Auditor's Report dated December 15, 2025). Read the audit (PDF, UGA TED portal).
- Not used: the City's FY2026 budget book circulated as proposed/pre-decisional (June 2025) — no figure on this page comes from it, and no adopted FY2026 version was sought or verified.
- Sum checks: every breakdown table on this page was added up before publishing; each shown total equals the sum of its shown parts, including the government-wide net position, the General Fund, all governmental funds, the enterprise funds, and the debt/capital table.
- What is missing: this page has no current-year budget, no FY2026 actuals, and no population, staffing, or service-level figures — the FY2025 audit does not supply them in a form used here, and none were invented. The audit's fund-column headers for the three sales-tax funds were scrambled in text extraction, so those funds are shown combined in the Governmental funds section rather than individually — the combined figures still sum exactly to the audit's totals. The audit also omits Management's Discussion and Analysis, so no MD&A narrative is quoted.
- City palette: no high- or medium-confidence City of Waycross palette was on file, so this page uses the neutral Peach State Pulse dark-glass theme rather than a city color.