Overview
Cleveland's auditor, Walker, Pierce & Tuck, CPA's, P.C. (Gainesville, Georgia), issued an unmodified opinion: the FY2025 financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the City's financial position as of June 30, 2025. The City reports governmental activities (general government, public safety, public works, recreation and culture, housing and development) and one business-type activity, the Water and Sewer enterprise fund.
In FY2025 the City as a whole grew: net position rose $3,141,939 — governmental activities by $2,920,132 and business-type activities by $221,807 — from $23,013,621 to $26,155,560. That government-wide growth sits alongside a different fund-level story: total governmental fund balances fell $1,746,051, because capital-project spending drew down the Capital Projects Fund. The General Fund itself grew, by $806,023, on asset-sale proceeds and transfers in that more than covered an operating shortfall — see the General Fund section.
Source: City of Cleveland FY2025 Financial Statements, Independent Auditor's Report (dated December 23, 2025) and Statement of Activities — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
At a glance — FY2025 audited
Source: FY2025 audit, Statement of Net Position, Statement of Activities, and Governmental Funds statements — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
Net position — June 30, 2025
Net position is what remains after liabilities and deferred inflows are subtracted from assets and deferred outflows. Each column below sums exactly to its total.
| Component | City total |
|---|---|
| Net investment in capital assets | $18,904,045 |
| Restricted | $2,591,321 |
| Unrestricted | $4,660,194 |
| Total net position | $26,155,560 |
| Net position by activity | Governmental | Business-type | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net investment in capital assets | $8,021,929 | $10,882,116 | $18,904,045 |
| Restricted — capital projects | $2,544,481 | $0 | $2,544,481 |
| Restricted — tourism | $41,515 | $0 | $41,515 |
| Restricted — public safety | $5,325 | $0 | $5,325 |
| Unrestricted | $1,755,478 | $2,904,716 | $4,660,194 |
| Total | $12,368,728 | $13,786,832 | $26,155,560 |
Change in net position (sums to the $3,141,939 above): governmental activities $2,920,132 (program net expense −$324,244 plus general revenues and transfers $3,244,376) and business-type activities $221,807 (program net expense −$167,987 plus general revenues and transfers $389,794). Beginning net position $23,013,621 + $3,141,939 = $26,155,560.
Source: Statement of Net Position and Statement of Activities, pp. 3–4 — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
General Fund — FY2025 actuals vs. budget
The General Fund is the City's chief operating fund. On operations alone it ran a $1,203,578 shortfall (revenues $5,535,779 against expenditures $6,739,357), but $792,949 of asset-sale proceeds and $1,216,652 of transfers in lifted the fund balance by $806,023. Against the audit's final budget, revenues came in $432,847 over and expenditures $119,920 under; the final budget itself was heavily amended from the original — most notably public safety, raised from $2,668,699 to $4,728,699.
Revenues — $5,535,779 actual
| Source | Actual |
|---|---|
| Sales tax | $1,662,954 |
| Intergovernmental | $1,262,258 |
| Property tax | $840,962 |
| Charges for services | $456,906 |
| Business tax | $449,043 |
| Franchise tax | $312,552 |
| Excise tax | $238,223 |
| Licenses and permits | $154,830 |
| Fines and forfeitures | $93,987 |
| Interest | $49,932 |
| Miscellaneous | $14,132 |
| Total revenues | $5,535,779 |
Expenditures — $6,739,357 actual
| Function | Actual |
|---|---|
| Public safety | $4,718,707 |
| General government | $1,498,335 |
| Public works | $507,031 |
| Recreation and culture | $15,284 |
| Total expenditures | $6,739,357 |
Budget vs. actual (audit's budgetary comparison schedule)
| Item | Original budget | Final budget | Actual | Variance vs. final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenues | $4,040,932 | $5,102,932 | $5,535,779 | +$432,847 |
| Total expenditures | $4,797,277 | $6,859,277 | $6,739,357 | −$119,920 |
| Revenues over (under) expenditures | −$756,345 | −$1,756,345 | −$1,203,578 | +$552,767 |
| Other financing sources, net | $756,345 | $1,756,345 | $2,009,601 | +$253,256 |
| Net change in fund balance | $0 | $0 | $806,023 | +$806,023 |
Fund balance walk
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Beginning balance, Jul 1, 2024 | $1,247,364 |
| Revenues over (under) expenditures | −$1,203,578 |
| Other financing sources, net (transfers in $1,216,652 + asset-sale proceeds $792,949) | $2,009,601 |
| Ending balance, Jun 30, 2025 | $2,053,387 |
That ending balance is $2,018,324 unassigned plus $35,063 nonspendable (prepaid expenditures) — the two sum exactly to $2,053,387.
Source: Governmental Funds statements, p. 7, and Budgetary Comparison Schedule — General Fund, p. 30 — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
All governmental funds — FY2025
Beyond the General Fund, the City reports a Capital Projects Fund, the ARPA Fund, and nonmajor funds (Hotel/Motel and Confiscated Assets). Every row below sums across to its total.
| Fund | Revenues | Expenditures | Ending balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Fund | $5,535,779 | $6,739,357 | $2,053,387 |
| Capital Projects Fund | $1,801,624 | $3,885,043 | $2,544,481 |
| ARPA Fund | $1,009,038 | $0 | $0 |
| Nonmajor governmental funds | $40,527 | $39,487 | $46,840 |
| Total governmental funds | $8,386,968 | $10,663,887 | $4,644,708 |
Combined, the governmental funds lost $2,276,919 on operations (revenues $8,386,968 minus expenditures $10,663,887), partly offset by $530,868 of other financing sources, net, for a net fund-balance decrease of $1,746,051 — from $6,390,759 to $4,644,708. The Capital Projects Fund accounts for most of it: $3,882,784 of capital outlay plus $2,259 of public works spending against $1,801,624 of intergovernmental revenue. The ARPA Fund took in $1,009,038 and transferred the same $1,009,038 out, ending the year at $0.
Source: Governmental Funds Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances, p. 7 — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
Water & Sewer enterprise — FY2025
The Water and Sewer Fund is the City's only business-type activity. It ran an operating loss, then grew its net position through a transfer in from other funds.
Operating revenues — $2,759,232
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Charges for services | $2,749,629 |
| Miscellaneous income | $9,603 |
| Total operating revenues | $2,759,232 |
Operating expenses — $2,888,109
| Expense | Amount |
|---|---|
| Personnel services (salaries $713,343 + employment taxes $54,219 + benefits $86,703) | $854,265 |
| Purchased / contracted services | $36,913 |
| Purchased water | $331,936 |
| Supplies | $362,151 |
| Insurance | $269,684 |
| Repairs and maintenance | $123,457 |
| Utilities | $230,192 |
| Engineering, lab fees and training | $63,686 |
| Depreciation | $584,150 |
| Miscellaneous | $31,675 |
| Total operating expenses | $2,888,109 |
Operating loss: $2,759,232 − $2,888,109 = −$128,877. Nonoperating items added a net $88,603 (interest income $118,110 less interest expense $29,507), for a loss before transfers of $40,274. A $453,081 transfer in, less a $191,000 transfer out, produced the $221,807 increase in net position — from $13,565,025 to $13,786,832. Note: the fund's cash flow statement shows net cash used by operating activities of $23,346, a different measure from the accrual operating loss above.
Source: Proprietary Fund Statements of Revenues, Expenses, and Changes in Net Position and of Cash Flows, pp. 10–11 — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
Debt & capital assets
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Notes payable — current portion | $96,284 |
| Notes payable — long-term portion | $1,399,836 |
| Total notes payable outstanding | $1,496,120 |
| Net pension liability | $509,858 |
| Compensated absences | $276,389 |
| Capital assets, net — governmental | $8,021,929 |
| Capital assets, net — business-type | $12,378,236 |
| Capital assets, net — total | $20,400,165 |
All notes payable sit in the Water and Sewer Fund; the governmental activities carry no notes payable. Capital assets, net, break down as nondepreciable $4,005,486 ($2,668,771 governmental + $1,336,715 business-type) plus depreciable, net $16,394,679 ($5,353,158 + $11,041,521) — summing exactly to $20,400,165. The pension liability fell from $760,591 at the prior year-end to $509,858, with the plan 84.68% funded at June 30, 2025.
Source: Statement of Net Position, p. 3, and long-term liability and pension schedules — audited FY2025 report (PDF).
Sources & notes
- Primary source: City of Cleveland, Georgia, Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025 (audited; Walker, Pierce & Tuck, CPA's, P.C., report dated December 23, 2025). Read the audit (PDF, UGA TED portal).
- Second source (cross-check only): City of Cleveland 2024–2025 Budget — ADOPTED (source spreadsheet path FY25/Adopted Final). Read the adopted budget (PDF, UGA TED portal). Budget figures on this page come from the audit's own budgetary comparison schedule, which is the audited presentation of that adopted budget as amended; no figure is taken from the budget spreadsheet alone, and audit actuals and budget figures are never combined into one total.
- Sum checks: every breakdown table on this page was added up before publishing; each shown total equals the sum of its shown parts (net position components and by-activity columns, General Fund revenues and expenditures, all-governmental-funds rows and columns, Water & Sewer operating revenues and expenses, notes payable and capital-asset components, and the fund-balance walks).
- What is missing: this page has no Management's Discussion and Analysis (the audit states it was omitted by management), no current-year budget, and no population, staffing, or service-level figures — the FY2025 audit does not supply them in a form used here, and none were invented. A newer verified document would be needed to update this dashboard.
- City palette: no high- or medium-confidence City of Cleveland palette was on file, so this page uses the neutral Peach State Pulse dark-glass theme rather than a city color.
- Identity: this is Cleveland, Georgia, the seat of White County — not Cleveland, Ohio or Cleveland, Tennessee.