Newton County seat. Covington runs its own electric, gas, water and sewer utilities — plus stormwater and a municipal airport — which is why utility funds dominate the city’s all-funds budget.
Government — council–manager: Mayor + six Council Members; City Manager is chief administrative officer
Incorporated 1822
Fiscal year July 1 – June 30
Population 14,967 (FY2025 ACFR Demographic and Economic Statistics table, citing U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts)
Area about 16 square miles
Budget rule city ordinances require an annual balanced budget approved by City Council; legal budgetary control is at the department level
$216,980,117
Total budget, all funds — revenues
Every city fund combined, as the city prints the total.
FY2025-2026 · Approved (revised 6/5/2025)
$216,673,455
Total budget, all funds — expenditures
Revenues exceed expenditures by exactly the $306,662 General Fund contingency.
FY2025-2026 · Approved (revised 6/5/2025)
$42,316,519
General Fund total revenues
Includes $14,052,851 of transfers in and $862,170 use of fund balance.
FY2025-2026 · Approved (revised 6/5/2025)
$42,009,857
General Fund department expenditures
Plus the $306,662 General Fund contingency, equals the $42,316,519 General Fund total.
FY2025-2026 · Approved (revised 6/5/2025)
$24,231,559
General Fund actual revenues
GAAP revenues only — transfers are reported separately in the audit (see notes).
FY2025 · Audited actuals
$23,382,746
General Fund unassigned fund balance
At June 30, 2025 — 65% of General Fund expenditures, per the ACFR MD&A.
FY2025 · Audited
$348,670,510
Total net position at June 30, 2025 (audited)
$40,279,263
Combined governmental fund balances at June 30, 2025 (audited)
$55,697,441
Total governmental funds revenues, FY2025 (audited actuals)
Breakdown 1
All funds expenditures by fund
FY2025-2026, Approved (revised 6/5/2025). The three city utility funds — Electric, Water Sewer and Gas — account for $144,225,118 of the $216,673,455 total. Bars are scaled to the largest fund; percentages are each fund’s share of total expenditures.
Electric$71,496,88033.0%
Water Sewer$48,480,98022.4%
General Fund$42,009,85719.4%
Gas$24,247,25811.2%
E911 Fund$6,004,6002.8%
SPLOST Special Revenue Fund$5,752,8692.7%
Employee Retirement$4,864,3252.2%
Airport$3,593,6031.7%
Hotel/Motel$2,998,0551.4%
Capital Projects$2,549,7401.2%
Storm Water$2,365,3661.1%
Sanitation$1,791,7670.8%
Workers Compensation Fund$300,0000.1%
Legion Field Recreational Facility$98,000<0.1%
Alternative Fueling Station$87,300<0.1%
Neighborhood Stabilization Program$16,500<0.1%
Forfeited and Impounded Funds$16,355<0.1%
Total expenditures, all funds$216,673,455
The General Fund row excludes the $306,662 General Fund contingency; total revenues ($216,980,117) exceed total expenditures by exactly that contingency amount. On the revenue side, every fund’s total equals its expenditure row except the General Fund ($42,316,519).
FY2025-2026, Approved (revised 6/5/2025). Police and Fire together are $21,798,138 — just over half of department spending. Percentages are shares of the $42,009,857 department subtotal.
Police$12,488,73329.7%
Fire Department$9,309,40522.2%
Street$3,285,1117.8%
Planning & Zoning$2,145,3185.1%
Marketing/Communications$1,465,9363.5%
Financial Administration$1,422,7973.4%
Engineering$1,310,1423.1%
Human Resources$1,255,5073.0%
Data Processing/IT$1,131,4612.7%
Municipal Court$1,012,7812.4%
Elected Officials$914,1272.2%
Meter Readers$882,4102.1%
Facilities Maintenance$813,8721.9%
Customer Service$707,0201.7%
City Manager’s Office$696,5931.7%
Cemetery & Parks$632,0581.5%
Transfer out$612,0701.5%
Auto Shop$596,2251.4%
Telecommunications$446,6221.1%
City Clerk’s Office$323,5950.8%
Safety & Risk Management$291,3950.7%
Purchasing & Warehouse$266,6790.6%
Department subtotal$42,009,857
General Fund contingency$306,662
General Fund total$42,316,519
How the General Fund revenue total is built
FY2025-2026, Approved (revised 6/5/2025). Only about two-thirds of the General Fund total is revenue in the ordinary sense — the rest is transfers in from other funds and a draw on fund balance.
FY2025 audited actuals, from the ACFR. Property taxes are the largest single source at 37.4% of General Fund revenue; taxes of all kinds total $16,039,882. Percentages are shares of the $24,231,559 total.
FY2025 audited actuals, from the ACFR. Public safety is 55.7% of everything the General Fund spent. Percentages are shares of the $35,829,456 total.
Public safety$19,960,06955.7%
Police$11,796,602
Fire$8,163,467
General government$5,878,70216.4%
Public works$4,389,43112.3%
Housing and development$2,081,8525.8%
Debt service — principal$1,689,8424.7%
Judicial$963,1142.7%
Parks and recreation$646,2221.8%
Debt service — interest$220,2240.6%
Total General Fund actual expenditures$35,829,456
The General Fund’s $11,597,897 excess of expenditures over revenues was covered by $12,547,089 of net other financing sources (including $10,114,935 transfers in), so fund balance rose $949,192 to $23,886,964.
FY2026-2027 Proposed: total revenues and total expenditures of $264,367,616 each, and General Fund total revenues of $46,445,998 — from the city’s 2026-2027 Proposed Line-Item Budget. The book’s cover and summary say Proposed even though its filename contains ‘Council Approved.’
Read carefully
Notes & caveats
Mixed status wording in the FY2025-2026 budget book. The cover says “Approved,” the Budget Summary column is headed “Proposed,” and the recap pages are headed “REVISED 6/5/2025” with a “Council Revised” final column. This page labels those figures “Approved (revised 6/5/2025).”
Budget and audit General Fund totals are not comparable. The budget’s $42,316,519 includes $14,052,851 of transfers in and $862,170 of fund-balance use; the ACFR’s $24,231,559 is GAAP revenues only, with transfers reported separately as other financing sources.
All-funds totals are gross, as the city presents them. They count interfund transfers on both sides ($17,435,984 in = $17,435,984 out) and include use of fund balance and MEAG funds as revenues; they are the city’s own printed totals, not a netted/consolidated figure.
Water Sewer includes financing lines. The Water Sewer fund total includes financing lines printed in the budget as “DWIPSIP $5,500,000” and “GEFA $19,500,000” (acronyms not expanded in the document) plus $6,962,205 use of fund balance — it is not operating revenue.
E911 line reproduced as printed. The E911 fund’s revenue build includes a line printed “RMB - NC $2,202,759,” reproduced as printed and not interpreted.