LaGrange is the county seat of Troup County, Georgia. Its fiscal year ends June 30. This page presents the city’s FY2025 Proposed budget and its FY2023 Audited financial results, exactly as published in the city’s own documents — with the conflicts inside those documents disclosed rather than smoothed over. LaGrange is unusual among Georgia cities: it levies no property tax, and its General Fund is majority-supported by transfers from the city’s own utility funds.
Audited figures are FY2023 — three fiscal years old
The audited figures on this page come from the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, the latest audited year located. No FY2024 or FY2025 ACFR was located. Every audited figure carries its FY2023 Audited tag.
The budget book is the Proposed version — not adopted
The published FY2024-25 budget book states in its own introduction: “This document contains the proposed fiscal year 2025 budget for the City of LaGrange, Georgia.” Every budget figure on this page is therefore labeled FY2025 Proposed. No adopted FY2025 figures are published in either source used here.
The proposed budget for all of the city’s operating funds, as printed in the FY2024-25 budget book. The book presents the operating funds in a utility-style working-capital format that includes internal transfers and all enterprise funds, and states a split of enterprise funds 69% / governmental funds 31% of the total budget (narrative only, as printed).
Basis: FY2025 Proposed budget book, all operating funds. Because this total is built on a different basis and a different year, it is not compared on this page against the FY2023 Audited government-wide totals in the ACFR.
SourceAnnual Budget FY 2024-25 — City of LaGrange, Georgia (Proposed version, per its Budget Introduction), FY2025 Proposed. Read the Budget Book (PDF, UGA TED)
The General Fund’s proposed revenues by source, from the budget book’s detailed budget sheets (Fund 101, “2025 Projected” column). Revenue is the same in both of the book’s presentations — its expense total is not.
The budget book’s General Fund narrative summary prints FY2025 budgeted expenses of $42,315,894 and net income of $942,783. Its own detailed budget sheets print expense totals of $42,694,166 and a fund net of $564,511 for the same “2025 Projected” column — a difference of $378,272. Revenue agrees in both places at $43,258,677, and each presentation is internally arithmetically consistent. This page shows both and chooses neither; the figures are never averaged.
| Presentation | Revenue | Expenses | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Narrative summary | $43,258,677 | $42,315,894 | $942,783 |
| Detailed budget sheets | $43,258,677 | $42,694,166 | $564,511 |
| Difference between presentations | $0 | $378,272 | $378,272 |
On the narrative basis, the book projects General Fund working capital of $13,347,731 at June 30, 2025.
Basis: detailed budget sheets, Fund 101, “2025 Projected” column, FY2025 Proposed. Rows sum to the printed total.
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Electric utility transfer in | $9,025,170 |
| Gas utility transfer in | $3,180,188 |
| Water / Sewer transfer in | $3,109,083 |
| Telecommunications transfer in | $715,917 |
| Cemetery lots | $80,000 |
| Surplus-equipment sale | $1,000 |
| Mausoleum crypts | $625 |
| Total other financing sources | $16,111,983 |
ARPA and Sanitation transfers in are $0 in the FY2025 projected column. The utility transfers are the General Fund’s largest single support — see the structural note in Section 03.
The book’s narrative prints percentage shares for the General Fund’s largest funding sources and cost centers, but no dollar amounts for them. They are reproduced here only as the budget book’s stated shares — they are not converted to dollars on this page, and they do not reconcile simply to the detailed-sheet totals above.
SourceAnnual Budget FY 2024-25 — City of LaGrange, Georgia (Proposed version, per its Budget Introduction), General Fund narrative summary and detailed budget sheets, FY2025 Proposed. Read the Budget Book (PDF, UGA TED)
What the city’s governmental funds actually took in and spent in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, from the ACFR’s governmental funds statement (modified accrual basis). Structural fact: the City of LaGrange does not levy a property tax — the FY2025 Proposed book likewise states the proposed budget “maintains a zero millage property tax rate.” Governmental services are funded substantially by transfers from the city’s utility funds: net transfers into the General Fund were $21,132,080 in FY2023, and the ACFR reports the General Fund as majority-supported by those transfers.
Basis: governmental funds statement, modified accrual, FY2023 Audited. Of the Taxes line, $5,047,281 is hotel/motel tax reported in nonmajor funds. Government-wide governmental revenues are stated on a different (accrual) basis in the ACFR and are not mixed with this fund-basis table.
| Function | Amount |
|---|---|
| General government | $4,203,993 |
| Public safety | $21,813,752 |
| Public works | $4,986,279 |
| Culture and recreation | $2,653,862 |
| Community development | $5,751,977 |
| Telecommunications | $549,749 |
| Capital outlay | $5,744,195 |
| Debt service — principal retirements | $2,198,818 |
| Debt service — interest and fiscal charges | $1,828,130 |
| Total expenditures (as printed) | $49,730,755 |
Basis: governmental funds statement, modified accrual, FY2023 Audited. Rows are listed in the order printed in the ACFR statement; the total is as printed.
The ACFR’s Statement of Activities reports governmental activities on the full accrual basis. Its total, $46,796,855, differs legitimately from the $49,730,755 fund-basis total above; the two bases are shown separately here and never combined.
| Function | Amount |
|---|---|
| Public safety | $21,444,780 |
| Community development | $9,112,159 |
| Public works | $6,975,461 |
| General government | $4,530,855 |
| Culture and recreation | $2,900,039 |
| Interest and fiscal charges | $1,817,837 |
| Judicial | $15,724 |
| Total (as printed) | $46,796,855 |
SourceAnnual Comprehensive Financial Report, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2023 — City of LaGrange, Georgia (Mauldin & Jenkins, unmodified opinion), governmental funds statement and Statement of Activities, FY2023 Audited. Read the ACFR (PDF)
Where the city stood at June 30, 2023: the balances held in each governmental fund, and the government-wide net position split between governmental and business-type (utility) activities.
| Fund | Fund balance |
|---|---|
| General Fund | $10,975,775 |
| LaGrange Development Authority (blended component unit, major fund from FY2023) | $10,750,066 |
| SPLOST V Fund | $358,357 |
| Capital Projects Fund | $272,900 |
| Nonmajor governmental funds | −$327,000 (deficit) |
| Total governmental fund balances (as printed) | $22,030,098 |
Nonmajor deficit: the −$327,000 nonmajor funds deficit is attributable to the Tax Allocation District – Marriott advance from the Utility Fund (ACFR MD&A). General Fund balance components: inventory $253,847 + advances to other funds $719,924 + restricted for debt service $870,050 + unassigned $9,131,954 = $10,975,775.
| Activities | Net position |
|---|---|
| Governmental activities | $83,315,829 |
| Business-type (utility/enterprise) activities | $133,154,492 |
| Total net position — primary government | $216,470,321 |
Restatement: FY2023 governmental beginning net position was restated ($49,796,431 → $75,418,147 as restated) because the LaGrange Development Authority became a blended component unit and major governmental fund in FY2023. Any prior-year comparison must use the restated figures.
SourceAnnual Comprehensive Financial Report, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2023 — City of LaGrange, Georgia (Mauldin & Jenkins, unmodified opinion), balance sheet — governmental funds and Statement of Net Position, FY2023 Audited. Read the ACFR (PDF)
All of the city’s bonded debt is revenue debt, secured solely by specific business-type revenue sources. The city has no outstanding general obligation bonds — consistent with levying no property tax. Pension and OPEB liabilities are long-term liabilities, but they are not bonded debt and are shown separately below.
| Component | Governmental activities | Business-type activities | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue bonds payable | $18,605,000 | $26,180,000 | $44,785,000 |
| Unamortized premium | $38,000 | $1,968,000 | $2,006,000 |
| Total bonded debt, incl. premiums | — | — | $46,791,000 |
General obligation debt: $0. None of this bonded debt is general-obligation debt; all bonds are secured solely by specific business-type revenue sources (ACFR MD&A).
| Liability | Amount ($ thousands) |
|---|---|
| Net pension liability | $20,657 |
| Total OPEB liability | $13,166 |
| Notes payable | $12,758 |
| Landfill closure / postclosure (business-type only) | $8,427 |
| Certificates of participation | $3,888 |
| Compensated absences | $1,104 |
| Financed purchases | $833 |
| Intergovernmental agreement payable | $510 |
| Leases payable | $77 |
Exact Statement of Net Position amounts: net pension liability $20,657,363; total OPEB liability $13,166,085. These are separate long-term liabilities and are never folded into the bonded-debt figure above. The ACFR transmittal letter frames outstanding long-term liabilities excluding landfill closure, pension, OPEB, and payroll liabilities at $63.5 million at June 30, 2023.
SourceAnnual Comprehensive Financial Report, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2023 — City of LaGrange, Georgia (Mauldin & Jenkins, unmodified opinion), MD&A long-term debt table and Statement of Net Position, FY2023 Audited. Read the ACFR (PDF)
LaGrange runs its own utilities — electric, water/sewer, natural gas, sanitation, and telecommunications. These business-type figures are presented in their own section and are never blended with the governmental figures above. Transfers out of these funds are the General Fund’s largest support.
Basis: FY2023 Audited, ACFR MD&A summary (revenues and expenses as printed, in thousands). Net position per the Statement of Net Position.
| Service | Charges for services |
|---|---|
| Utilities | $83,225,752 |
| Water and sewer | $22,239,721 |
| Sanitation | $3,002,170 |
| Sweetland Amphitheater | $1,240,584 |
Water and sewer also received $731,011 in capital grants in FY2023 (FY2023 Audited).
FY2025 Proposed note: the proposed budget book presents the operating funds in a utility-style working-capital format whose totals include internal transfers and all enterprise funds. The FY2025 Proposed all-funds revenue of $164,474,184 (Section 01) is therefore not compared against any FY2023 Audited government-wide total on this page — different bases and different years.
SourceAnnual Comprehensive Financial Report, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2023 — City of LaGrange, Georgia (Mauldin & Jenkins, unmodified opinion), MD&A and Statement of Activities, FY2023 Audited. Read the ACFR (PDF) · Budget-format note: Annual Budget FY 2024-25 — City of LaGrange, Georgia (Proposed). Read the Budget Book (PDF, UGA TED)
The limits of these two sources, stated plainly. Every figure on this page traces to one of the two documents cited in each section.
Audited data is FY2023 — three fiscal years old. No FY2024 or FY2025 ACFR was located. FY2023 is the latest audited year available, and every audited figure on this page carries its FY2023 Audited tag.
The budget is Proposed only. The published FY2024-25 book is the proposed version — its introduction says so. No adopted FY2025 figures are published in either source, and nothing on this page is labeled “adopted.”
The budget book disagrees with itself on General Fund expenses. Narrative summary: expenses $42,315,894, net $942,783. Detailed budget sheets: expenses $42,694,166, net $564,511. Difference: $378,272, with revenue agreeing at $43,258,677. Both presentations are shown in Section 02; this page does not choose between them and does not average them.
Two accounting bases are in use. ACFR governmental-fund figures use the modified accrual basis (for example, governmental revenues of $39,749,491); government-wide figures use the accrual basis (governmental revenues of $39,144 thousand in the MD&A summary). The bases differ legitimately and are labeled wherever they appear.
FY2023 figures were restated. FY2023 governmental beginning net position was restated ($49,796,431 → $75,418,147 as restated) because the LaGrange Development Authority became a blended component unit and major governmental fund in FY2023. Prior-year comparisons must use restated figures.
The General Fund depends on utility transfers. Net transfers into the General Fund were $21,132,080 in FY2023, and the ACFR reports the General Fund as majority-supported by utility transfers. The city levies no property tax (zero millage).
Debt framing. All bonded debt ($46,791,000 including premiums, FY2023 Audited) is revenue debt secured by utility revenues; there is no general obligation debt. The net pension liability ($20,657,363) and total OPEB liability ($13,166,085) are separate long-term liabilities, not bonded debt.
Budget figures are pending spot re-verification. The UGA TED portal returned HTTP 503 on repeated direct-download attempts on October 23, 2026, so the FY2025 Proposed budget figures were read from the search-indexed text rendering of the exact same budget-book PDF linked in Sections 01, 02, and 06, and are to be spot re-verified against the PDF itself when TED recovers. The FY2023 Audited ACFR figures were extracted directly from the downloaded PDF and are not affected.
Population. The only population figure used is approximately 31,773 — the projection at the beginning of FY2023 stated in the FY2023 ACFR transmittal letter. It is not a current census count, and no population figure is printed in the budget book.