Douglas is the county seat of Coffee County in south Georgia — not Douglasville, and not Douglas County. This page presents the city's finances exactly as reported in its audited financial statements: a debt-free city government whose electric, natural gas, water & sewer, and sanitation utilities are larger than the rest of city government combined.
Figures are from the city's FY2018 audited financial report — the newest audit that could be reliably extracted. The city's FY2025 audit is published only as a scanned document and could not be verified; no newer figures are shown rather than unverified ones.
Every figure below is from the audited FY2018 statements, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018.
Total net position
$90,497,095
Governmental activities $26,505,085 · Business-type activities $63,992,010
Total governmental fund balances
$18,282,375
Across the General Fund, SPLOST V, and other governmental funds
General Fund balance
$6,269,460
Of which unassigned: $5,909,831
Governmental revenues (fund basis)
$12,046,769
All governmental funds, FY2018
Governmental expenditures (fund basis)
$16,159,366
Includes $2,751,097 of capital outlay, largely SPLOST-funded
Bonds, notes & loans payable
$0
Debt-free at June 30, 2018 — the last governmental loan was repaid in full during FY2018
Enterprise (utility) operating revenues
$47,019,816
Electric, natural gas, water & sewer, and sanitation combined
City of Douglas, Georgia, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 (audited by Hurst & Hurst CPAs, LLC; unmodified opinions).
The government-wide statements (accrual basis) cover the whole city: governmental activities plus the business-type utility operations.
| Category | Governmental | Business-type | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net investment in capital assets | $21,811,679 | $21,516,940 | $43,328,619 |
| Restricted | $11,019,946 | $0 | $11,019,946 |
| Unrestricted | −$6,326,537 | $42,475,070 | $36,148,533 |
| Total net position | $26,505,085 | $63,992,010 | $90,497,095 |
All $11,019,946 of restricted net position sits in governmental activities: $10,766,996 restricted for capital projects (SPLOST) plus $252,950 of General Fund restrictions — Cemetery $91,672, Police Technology $47,997, DCCPRD $53,889, and Haz-Mat $59,392.
The governmental unrestricted balance is a deficit of $6,326,537. Governmental activities carry the city's pension and OPEB obligations against comparatively little unrestricted resource; the positive citywide unrestricted figure comes entirely from the utility (business-type) side.
Program revenues covered about 39% of governmental expenses; general revenues and transfers from the utilities covered the rest.
| Property taxes | $2,629,328 |
| Sales and use taxes | $1,722,778 |
| Other taxes | $774,424 |
| Insurance premium taxes | $770,283 |
| Franchise taxes | $243,709 |
| Other revenue / reimbursements | $412,715 |
| Investment earnings | $99,224 |
| Gain on disposition of capital assets | $44,405 |
| Total general revenues | $6,696,866 |
Beginning net position was restated in FY2018 for the new GASB 75 accounting standard for other post-employment benefits (OPEB), which put the retiree-health liability on the face of the statements for the first time.
City of Douglas, Georgia, CAFR, fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 — Statement of Net Position and Statement of Activities.
The fund statements (modified accrual basis) track near-term spendable resources. Citywide, governmental funds took in $12,046,769 and spent $16,159,366 in FY2018 — the gap is mostly SPLOST V capital projects paid out of accumulated sales-tax balances, plus utility transfers into the General Fund.
| Public Safety | $6,508,332 |
| Capital Outlay | $2,751,097 |
| Public Works | $2,317,987 |
| General Government | $1,655,273 |
| Culture and Recreation | $1,591,320 |
| Housing and Development | $1,290,357 |
| Debt Service — Principal | $45,000 |
| Debt Service — Interest | $0 |
| Total expenditures | $16,159,366 |
| Line | Final budget | Actual | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues | $9,803,053 | $9,520,337 | −$282,716 |
| Amounts available for appropriation | $15,182,548 | $14,957,294 | −$225,254 |
| Expenditures | $15,182,548 | $14,754,895 | $427,653 under budget |
| Ending fund balance | — | $6,269,460 | agrees with GAAP statement |
Presentation note: the budget-basis statement is not line-comparable to the GAAP fund statement for General Government and Other Revenues. Per CAFR Note 12, the Vehicle Maintenance and Central Purchasing/Warehouse departments are budgeted inside the General Fund on a gross basis — budget-basis General Government is $3,530,655 and Other Revenues/Reimbursements $2,413,209, versus GAAP lines of $1,655,273 and $507,828. The two statements agree exactly where it matters: net change of +$170,286 and an ending fund balance of $6,269,460.
City of Douglas, Georgia, CAFR, fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 — governmental fund statements, General Fund budgetary comparison schedule, and Note 12.
Douglas runs its own Electric, Natural Gas, Water & Sewer, and Sanitation utilities. In FY2018 the business-type activities were larger than the governmental activities — $63,992,010 of the city's $90,497,095 net position — and utility transfers are a structural support for the General Fund.
| Fund | Operating revenues | Operating expenses | Operating income | Ending net position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric | $29,340,048 | $23,848,426 | $5,491,622 | $30,732,619 |
| Water and Sewer | $9,080,237 | $6,566,638 | $2,513,599 | $26,307,947 |
| Natural Gas | $5,421,756 | $4,371,181 | $1,050,575 | $4,198,165 |
| Sanitation | $3,177,775 | $2,672,203 | $505,572 | $2,753,278 |
| Total enterprise funds | $47,019,816 | $37,458,448 | $9,561,368 | $63,992,009 |
The proprietary statements total enterprise net position at $63,992,009; the government-wide statement prints $63,992,010 — a $1 difference in the source document itself, disclosed here rather than corrected (see Sources & notes).
Total transfers out of the proprietary funds were $5,331,912 in FY2018. About $3.9 million of the Electric Fund's transfers out supported the General Fund — the mechanism behind the General Fund's $5,390,439 of transfers in.
The MEAG Trust is a restricted asset of the Electric Fund — held under the city's MEAG power arrangements. It is not a separate entity, and it is not city revenue.
The city's self-insured health and workers' compensation fund reported operating revenues exactly equal to its expenses — $2,818,993 — and a net position of $0 at June 30, 2018. It is reported inside governmental activities.
City of Douglas, Georgia, CAFR, fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 — proprietary fund statements.
At June 30, 2018 the City of Douglas owed nothing on bonds, notes, loans, or capital leases. What remains on the long-term side of the ledger is employee-benefit obligations — pensions, retiree health care, and accrued leave — plus a power-supply commitment that is not city debt.
Bonds payable
$0
Notes & loans payable
$0
Capital leases
$0
“All loans have been paid in full as of June 30, 2018.” — City of Douglas FY2018 CAFR
The city's last governmental loan — $45,000 — was repaid in full during FY2018 (the $45,000 principal line in governmental fund expenditures). Apart from the employee-benefit obligations below, the city was debt-free at June 30, 2018.
Measured September 30, 2017. The FY2018 employer contribution of $1,243,636 was 119% of the actuarially determined contribution — the city contributed more than the actuarial requirement.
The OPEB (retiree health) liability was reported for the first time under GASB 75 in FY2018 and is unfunded — pay-as-you-go, with no trust assets set aside. Compensated absences are the only long-term obligation category in the CAFR's Note 8 long-term liability schedule.
Under its 1975 MEAG power sales contract, the city is responsible for a pro-rata share of MEAG's project bonds, stated in the CAFR as approximately $153,547,213 at June 30, 2018. This is MEAG's debt under a power contract — not a liability on the city's statement of net position, and it is not counted in the city's $0 bonded debt above.
City of Douglas, Georgia, CAFR, fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 — Notes 8–10 and required supplementary pension/OPEB schedules.
One source, stated plainly — including what could not be verified and what was deliberately left out.
City of Douglas, Georgia, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, audited by Hurst & Hurst CPAs, LLC (unmodified opinions). Every figure on this page comes from that document and nowhere else.
City of Douglas, Georgia, CAFR, fiscal year ended June 30, 2018; extraction and disclosure notes as recorded at build time.