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Institute presentation: Augusta-Richmond County budget totaled $1.57 billion in FY24; FY25 appropriations set near $1.35 billion
Summary
A Carl Vinson Institute presenter told the Charter Review Committee that FY24 appropriations were $1.57 billion (with one-time ARPA and hurricane expenses), FY25 appropriations are $1.35 billion, and major spending is concentrated in capital projects and enterprise funds.
Dr. Rex Facer of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government gave the Charter Review Committee an overview of Augusta-Richmond County’s budgeting structure on May 1, 2025, and highlighted figures the committee may consider as it debates charter language affecting taxation and budget governance.
Facer framed municipal budgeting with standard best practices and fund accounting. He told the committee “there should also be linkages to the organization's goals” and said budget decisions should focus on results and long-term perspectives.
On specific figures, Facer said the consolidated government’s total appropriations for fiscal year 2024 were $1,570,000,000, a figure that included one-time revenue and hurricane-related expenses. He said the fiscal-year-2025 total appropriations were reduced to about $1,350,000,000 and that the government had to make cuts to address roughly a $7,000,000 shortfall tied to expected ARPA funds that were not available.
Facer described how Augusta uses multiple fund types: general funds (Augusta’s general fund and a separate law-enforcement general fund), enterprise funds for businesslike services such as water and sewer, special revenue funds (including ARPA and locally dedicated revenues referred to in the presentation as SPLOS), capital projects funds and trust/agency funds. He noted the capital projects fund ($400,000,000) and enterprise funds (water/sewer ~ $199,000,000; airport ~$70,000,000) are large shares of total spending and that the general fund portion for 2025 was about $126,000,000; the law-enforcement general fund accounted for about $78,000,000 of that.
Committee members asked follow-ups about ARPA, hurricane-related FEMA reimbursements, the law-enforcement share of the general fund, and how health and welfare spending compares. Facer said some hurricane cleanup costs were expected to be reimbursed by FEMA but that the timing of those funds can lag and affect the year-to-year appropriations. On law enforcement he said large personnel and training costs explain a significant share of general-fund law-enforcement spending and that some jurisdictions are trying to shift costs by investing earlier in behavioral health and other front-end services.
Facer recommended the committee consider long-term budgeting practices and the implications of the charter’s tax and fund provisions when drafting recommendations.
Ending: Committee members asked for follow-up data on particular line items (for example, exact health-and-welfare allocations and stormwater-fee composition) to inform future charter recommendations.
