Unofficial demonstration dashboard

Newton County, Georgia

Budget & financial dashboard — FY2026 adopted budget and FY2024 audited actuals

Form of government

Board of Commissioners / County Manager

County seat

Covington

County created

December 24, 1821

Land area

279 square miles

Fiscal year

July 1 – June 30

Population

120,135

FY2024 ACFR statistical table — source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

Newton County at a glance

Headline figures from the county's adopted FY2026 budget book and its audited FY2024 financial report. Each figure is labeled with its fiscal year and status.

Total budget, all funds

$143,624,854

FY2026 · Adopted

General Fund budget

$108,641,020

FY2026 · Adopted · 75.6% of all funds

Public Safety expenditures

$63,352,785

FY2026 · Adopted · 44.1% of expenditures

Tax revenues

$93,468,222

FY2026 · Adopted · 65.1% of revenues

Total net position, primary government

$344,144,294

June 30, 2024 · FY2024 · Audited actuals

Combined ending fund balance, governmental funds

$139,563,678

June 30, 2024 · FY2024 · Audited actuals. General Fund ending balance within it: $61,178,501, of which unassigned $60,656,059 (71.4% of General Fund expenditures).

FY2026 adopted budget

The county's adopted budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, from the FY 2026 Budget Book (Adopted Version 6/17/2025). The All-Funds total excludes multi-year SPLOST funds, which the book budgets separately under Capital Improvements — see Notes.

Expenditures by function FY2026 · Adopted

Total$143,624,854

General Government$21,601,203

Judicial$11,175,708

Public Safety$63,352,785

Public Works$33,663,410

Health and Welfare$1,563,471

Culture/Recreation$4,180,283

Housing and Development$2,645,678

Debt Services$1,176,293

Other Financing Services$4,266,023

Total expenditures$143,624,854

Shares are rounded to one decimal and may not sum to exactly 100%.

Source: FY 2026 Budget Book Adopted (FY2026, Adopted — Adopted Version 6/17/2025) — https://www.newtoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7602/FY-2026-Budget-Book-Adopted

Revenues by source FY2026 · Adopted

Total$143,624,854

Taxes$93,468,222

Licenses and Permits$1,439,000

Intergovernmental Revenues$5,124,839

Charges for Services$29,766,031

Fines and Forfeitures$1,552,100

Investment Income$3,056,310

Contributions and Donations$27,500

Miscellaneous Revenue$581,149

Other Financing Sources$8,609,703

Total revenues$143,624,854

Shares are rounded to one decimal and may not sum to exactly 100%.

Source: FY 2026 Budget Book Adopted (FY2026, Adopted — Adopted Version 6/17/2025) — https://www.newtoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7602/FY-2026-Budget-Book-Adopted

Revenue by fund FY2026 · Adopted

Total$143,624,854

General Fund$108,641,020

LVAP 5%$90,000

Juvenile Supplemental Services$14,500

Sheriff's Forfeited$40,010

Law Library$57,050

Sheriff's Special Revenue$21,000

Jail Fund$191,500

DATE Fund$97,000

Opioid Settlement Payments$77,500

DA Crime Victims$60,100

E-911$3,321,500

NSP Families$50

American Rescue Plan Fund$1,005,000

Multiple Grant Fund$1,955,881

Fire Districts$4,416,350

Hotel/Motel Fund$365,100

Capital Improvements Fund$245,000

Impact Fee$1,392,000

Cornish Creek Water Fund$12,467,060

Solid Waste$8,049,674

Gaither's at Myrtle Creek Farm$325,559

Workers Compensation$792,000

Total revenue, all funds$143,624,854

Shares are rounded to one decimal and may not sum to exactly 100%. Values are from the budget book's revenue-by-fund table — see Notes.

Source: FY 2026 Budget Book Adopted (FY2026, Adopted — Adopted Version 6/17/2025) — https://www.newtoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7602/FY-2026-Budget-Book-Adopted

Expenditures by expense type FY2026 · Adopted

Total$143,624,854

Personnel Services & Employee Benefits$77,064,025

Purchased/Contracted Services$24,407,626

Supplies$18,721,940

Other Costs$12,375,704

Other Financing Uses$4,564,064

Debt Service$2,968,321

Depreciation/Amortization$2,416,831

Capital Outlays$1,217,992

InterFund/Dept Charges−$111,649

Total expenditures$143,624,854

InterFund/Dept Charges is negative, as printed in the budget book. Shares are rounded to one decimal and may not sum to exactly 100%.

Source: FY 2026 Budget Book Adopted (FY2026, Adopted — Adopted Version 6/17/2025) — https://www.newtoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7602/FY-2026-Budget-Book-Adopted

FY2024 audited actuals

Results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, from the audited financial statements in the county's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (unmodified opinion). FY2024 totals include a one-time drinking-water grant — see Notes.

Governmental funds — revenues by source FY2024 · Audited actuals

Total$196,334,960

Taxes$102,981,327

Licenses and permits$1,532,945

Intergovernmental$73,768,801

Charges for services$9,308,203

Fines and forfeitures$2,180,296

Investment income$5,040,818

Contributions$75,295

Miscellaneous$1,447,275

Total revenues, governmental funds$196,334,960

Shares are rounded to one decimal and may not sum to exactly 100%.

Source: Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2024 (FY2024, Audited actuals — unmodified opinion) — https://www.newtoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6900/FY-2024-Annual-Comprehensive-Financial-Report

Governmental funds — expenditures by function FY2024 · Audited actuals

Total$183,016,245

General government$21,983,116

Judicial$9,053,011

Public safety$55,501,634

Public works$44,236,560

Health and welfare$1,569,871

Culture and recreation$3,640,153

Housing and development$2,045,404

Capital outlay$39,563,939

Debt service — Principal retirement$4,067,749

Debt service — Interest and fiscal charges$1,354,808

Total expenditures, governmental funds$183,016,245

Shares are rounded to one decimal and may not sum to exactly 100%.

General Fund — revenues by source FY2024 · Audited actuals

Total$95,755,447

Taxes$76,758,166

Licenses and permits$1,532,945

Intergovernmental$6,927,699

Charges for services$5,498,938

Fines and forfeitures$1,024,784

Investment income$3,415,502

Contributions$11,714

Miscellaneous$585,699

Total General Fund revenues$95,755,447

General Fund — expenditures by function FY2024 · Audited actuals

Total$85,010,539

General government$13,525,152

Judicial$7,709,880

Public safety$48,547,746

Public works$7,417,290

Health and welfare$1,569,871

Culture and recreation$3,640,153

Housing and development$2,045,404

Principal retirement$411,913

Interest and fiscal charges$143,130

Total General Fund expenditures$85,010,539

Ending fund balances by fund June 30, 2024 · FY2024 · Audited actuals

Total$139,563,678

General Fund$61,178,501

Impact Fee Fund$3,463,329

2017 SPLOST Fund$14,055,368

2023 SPLOST Fund$37,625,329

ARPA Fund$6,343

Drinking Water Projects Grant Fund$6,219,781

Capital Improvement Fund$7,517,998

FEMA Grant Fund$235,768

Nonmajor Governmental Funds$9,261,261

Combined ending fund balance, governmental funds$139,563,678

Shares are rounded to one decimal and may not sum to exactly 100%.

Notes & caveats

FY2025 audited figures are not shown. Audited figures on this page are FY2024. A FY2025 ACFR exists on the UGA Carl Vinson Institute TED portal, but the portal was unavailable (HTTP 503, "Down for maintenance") during research on October 23, 2026, so FY2025 audited figures could not be verified and are not shown.
FY2024 totals include a one-time grant. FY2024 audited totals are inflated by a one-time grant: the Drinking Water Projects Grant Fund recorded $43,029,939 of intergovernmental revenue and $36,810,158 of public-works spending in FY2024 — a joint drinking-water award with the City of Covington and the Newton County Water and Sewerage Authority.
SPLOST funds are outside the FY2026 All-Funds total. The FY2026 budget book's All-Funds total ($143,624,854) excludes multi-year SPLOST funds, which the book budgets separately under Capital Improvements (the book's own note).
Two tables in the budget book differ by $50. The budget book prints two slightly different fund figures in its revenue-by-fund vs. expenditures-by-fund tables (Fire Districts $4,416,350 vs. $4,416,400; NSP Families $50 vs. $0); the two $50 differences cancel and both tables total $143,624,854. This page uses the revenue-by-fund table's values.
Figures come from the audited statements, not the MD&A. The FY2024 ACFR's MD&A narrative contains errors — its expense split does not sum to its stated combined total, and it mislabels the year of the Impact Fee Fund's ending balance. All figures on this page come from the audited financial statements, not MD&A prose.
Two population figures exist. The FY2024 ACFR reports 120,135 (Bureau of Economic Analysis); the FY2026 budget book reports 115,530 (ACS 5-year estimates). This page uses the ACFR figure, labeled with its source.

Sources

Source: FY 2026 Budget Book Adopted (FY2026, Adopted — Adopted Version 6/17/2025) — https://www.newtoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7602/FY-2026-Budget-Book-Adopted