Overview of FY25 Proposed Budget

Revenues of the County are collected from multiple sources, with taxes making up 59% of the total income streams. Intergovernmental revenues are at 17% this year due to several significant grants the County has applied for and received. Other revenue types include charges for services, investment income, fines & forfeitures, licenses & permits and other sources. The other sources category is primarily made up of use of fund balance throughout the funds to cover capital projects and transfers in from other funds. Of the 59% of overall County revenue collected from taxes, 57% comes from property taxes, 23% from sales taxes, 11% from accommodation excise taxes and 9% from other types of taxes, including business and real estate taxes. 

"No Function" is used to account for transfers out to other funds.  The expenditures within the funds receiving the transfers in are categorized by the appropriate function. In the General Fund, the transfers out include $1.75M for Debt Service, $145K for an appropriation to the Drug Court Fund, $127K for an appropriation to the Brunswick Judicial Circuit Fund and $2.1M for Glynn County's share of the E911 Fund net expenditures. 

* Total Estimated Available Fund Balance is calculated by using the FY23 ending fund balance, subtracting commitments and budget appropriations in FY24, subtracting reserves per the fund balance policy and adding an estimate of change in fund balance expected for FY24.  These numbers are only estimates and are not firm until the completion of the FY24 audit. 

Accommodation Excise Tax (AET) Fund

Purpose: This fund reflects revenue from the 5% AET (bed tax) and funds recreation programs, capital projects and transfers to the CVB for tourism-related programs in an amount of 50% of the tax collections.

Status: The Accommodation Excise Tax Fund budget as presented is balanced at $21.4M utilizing $3.4M in fund balance for capital projects.

Alternate Dispute Resolution Fund

Purpose: This fund was created in FY10 by order of former Superior Court Judge Amanda Williams which reflects revenue from each court in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit. An ADR filing fee is assessed to each civil case filed in said courts in the amount of $10.00 to fund a court annexed mediation program in the Circuit.

Status: This fund is balanced at $140,540.

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Fund

Purpose: This fund was established in FY21 as required by the American Rescue Plan Act to track revenues and expenditures related to the federal funding received from ARPA.

Status: This fund is balanced at $6.8M and the budget will be adjusted throughout the year as funds are appropriated and carried forward from FY24 for already budgeted projects.

Blythe Island Development Fund

Purpose: This fund reflects funds received and reinvested from the sale of timber at Blythe Island Regional Park and the funds must be reinvested into the park.

Status: This fund is balanced at $205,000 with $200,000 in use of fund balance.

Brunswick Judicial Circuit Fund

Purpose: This fund reflects expenditures and revenues for five counties in the circuit which include Glynn, Wayne, Camden, Appling, and Jeff-Davis Counties. Each county is required to contribute a set amount to the fund and the revenues are used to offset shared expenses of the circuit.

Status: This fund is balanced at $429,970.

Drug Abuse and Education Fund

Purpose: This fund reflects expenditures and revenues generated from court fines and proceeds are used for drug abuse treatment and education.

Status: This fund is balanced at $87,000.

Drug Court Fund

Purpose: This fund reflects the expenditures and revenues for the Superior Court Drug Court program. Revenues include federal and state grants as well as contributions from other local counties utilizing the Drug Court and a transfer from the General Fund in the amount of $145,000. 

Status: This fund is balanced at $1.55M utilizing $306,584 in fund balance. 

Emergency 911 Fund

Purpose: This fund reflects expenditures and revenues for the Joint Public Safety Communications Department (JPSCD) which operates the E-911 center.

The budget includes debt service payments for the lease purchase of the radio system that was installed and implemented during FY16 and FY17. During the last several fiscal years significant upgrades have been made to the technology in the E911 center. This fund is supported through E911 taxes on cellular and land line phone bills throughout the County.  Costs over and above the revenues collected are shared by Glynn County, the City of Brunswick, the College of Coastal Georgia, the Jekyll Island Authority, the Glynn County Board of Education, the Brunswick- Glynn Joint Water Sewer Authority, and the Southeast Georgia Health System, all which use the Joint Public Safety Communications Department (JPSCD) for either emergency 911 dispatch and calls or access to the radio system.

Status: This fund is balanced at $5.08M.

Emergency Medical Services Fund

Purpose: The Emergency Medical Services Fund was created in FY20 to account for expenditures and revenues for EMS services in the EMS tax districts.

Status: The fund is balanced at $10M with the use of property taxes and ambulance billing revenues.

Fire Protection Fund

Purpose: The Fire Protection Fund reflects expenditures and revenues for fire protection in the fire protection tax districts.

Status: Total expenditures in this fund include operations, capital and debt service for fire trucks totaling $11.97M.  This fund is balanced using $1.5M in fund balance.

Grant Fund

Purpose: This fund was established in FY22 to track grant funded multi-year projects.  Included in this fund for FY25 are the College Park Drainage Project, Public Safety Radio Project, Johnson Rocks Project and other capital projects.

Status: This fund is balanced at $19.3M and will be adjusted as grant funds are carried forward from FY24 or as needed when additional grants are awarded.

Jail Commissary Fund

Purpose: This fund reflects revenues generated from the sale of commissary items and telephone services to inmates housed at the Glynn County Detention Center.

Status: Expenditures in this fund are budgeted to support the inmates, including some medical costs, clothing and shoes for the inmates as well as other detention center supplies. This fund is balanced at $645K with the use of $215K in fund balance.

Jail Complex Fund

Purpose: The Jail Complex Fund reflects expenditures and revenues generated from court fines and used for jail operations, renovations, and construction.

Status: This fund is balanced at $404K with the use of $224K in fund balance.

Juvenile Services Fund

Purpose: This fund reflects expenditures and revenues generated from fees paid by juveniles who receive supervision in Juvenile Court. The supervision fees are used to fund community-based services.

Status: This fund is balanced at $18,000, using $13,000 in fund balance.

Opioid Fund

Purpose: The Opioid Fund, established in FY24 per state guidance, maintains the expenditures and revenues for all Glynn County Opioid Settlement funds.  These funds are restricted for use on Opioid treatment, prevention and education.  

Status: This fund is balanced at $500K using previously collected Opioid Settlement Fund Balance. 

Police Services Fund

Purpose: The Police Fund reflects expenditures and revenues for all County police services and includes police capital and operations. This fund was created in FY20 due to the creation of a new Police Tax District.

Status: This fund is balanced at $22.1M using property taxes, insurance premium tax and $2.5M in fund balance.

Police Seizure Fund

Purpose: The Police Seizure Fund reflects funds received from the seizure of property and cash. Revenue is generated through court-ordered forfeitures and seizures and is only budgeted when funds are ordered by the court as forfeited. 

Status: This fund is balanced at $60K.

Sea Island Police

Purpose: The Sea Island Police Fund reflects expenditures and revenue for the police substation on Sea Island. Fifty percent of the expenditures in this fund are funded through a transfer from the Police Services Fund and the other 50% are funded through a special millage rate paid by Sea Island residents.

Status: The Sea Island Police Fund expenditure budget amounts to $458K and is balanced using $105K in fund balance.

Sheriff’s Seizure Fund

Purpose: This fund reflects funds received from the seizure of property and cash and is funded through court ordered forfeitures and seizures. The funds are budgeted when funds are ordered by the court as forfeited.

Status: This fund is balanced at $40,000.

Capital Projects Fund

Purpose: The Capital Projects Fund reflects major purchases of buildings, roads, and equipment. This fund was created in FY13 and a millage rate of 0.53 mills is proposed for the FY25 budget as one of the revenue sources for funding these purchases.
Status: This fund is balanced at $13.56M, utilizing $9M in fund balance to fund major projects. 

Debt Service Fund

Purpose: The Debt Service Fund is used to account for the accumulation of resources for, and the payment of, general long-term debt principal, interest, and related costs.

Status: This fund is balanced at $2.94M utilizing transfers in from other funds.

Five Internal Service Funds were added for FY25 to better account for internal services that cross multiple departments and funds.  The costs of these funds are distributed to the operating funds of the County based upon applicable factors for direct and indirect cost allocations.  These costs were previously housed in multiple funds, making cost comparisons from year to year for these services difficult to clearly see on the face of the financial statements. The approved budgets for the Internal Service Funds can be found in the Proposed Budget, but are eliminated in the budget analysis above due to their duplicative nature, meaning, these costs are shown as expenditures and revenues twice. As an example, the fuel cost for a police car will be shown in the Fleet Fund as an expenditure for fuel, and that same cost will be shown in the Police Fund as a Fleet cost allocation expenditure.  The Fleet cost allocation expenditure is transferred to the Fleet Fund and reported as a transfer in, shown as a revenue in the Fleet Fund. Since the expenditures and revenues are "duplicated" through the transfers between funds, the Internal Service Funds are not shown in the budget analysis, but instead the costs associated with the Internal Services Funds are shown in each applicable fund paying for those costs. 

Administrative Services Fund 

Purpose: The Administrative Services Fund houses the budgets for all internal administrative service departments that support County offices and department operations.  Departments housed in the Administrative Services Fund include County Manager, County Commission, County Attorney, Finance, Human Resources, Communications and portions of Compliance & Licensing. Indirect operating costs for the Administrative Services Fund are distributed to other funds in the County utilizing an FTE count by fund. At the end of the fiscal year, any remaining funds in the Administrative Services Fund will be distributed back to the funds that were charged based upon the cost allocation formula. 

Status: The Administrative Services Fund is balanced at $6.54M through cost allocations to other funds.

Facilities Fund 

Purpose: The Facilities Fund reflects operations for the Facilities Department, which supports all County Facilities, except the Detention Center, which is maintained by the Sheriff. This fund includes the day to day operations of all facilities, including utilities, repairs and maintenance, and the employee salary and benefits of the Facilities department personnel. This fund also budgets all facility improvements, major repairs and upgrades, which are charged through a Facilities Capital Charge back to the appropriate funding source.  The purpose of the Facilities Fund is to more accurately account for all facilities costs over time and to better manage major upgrades and improvements. The Facilities Internal Service Fund indirect operating costs are distributed to other funds in the County utilizing the percentage of total square footage of each facility.  Closed facilities with HVAC systems are weighted at 90% and open facilities or those without HVACs, such as sheds and pavilions, are weighted at 10%.  Any funds remaining at the end of the fiscal year will be maintained in this fund to assist with future HVAC replacements, roof replacements and other major upgrades.  

Status: The Facilities Fund is balanced at $7.29M through cost allocations of $3.75M and Facilities capital charges of $3.54M.

Fleet Fund

Purpose: The Fleet Fund maintains the cost of the County's entire rolling fleet, which includes all vehicles, heavy equipment, trailers and mowers.  The costs of operating the County's fleet are captured in the Fleet Fund for all departments. Maintenance cost schedules are created by vehicle type, which include standard maintenance, tire replacements, fuel, shop costs, repairs, and fleet personnel costs. Capital purchases of all fleet vehicles & equipment are also charged to the Fleet Fund, and charged back to the appropriate funding source. Indirect operating costs of the Fleet ISF are distributed to other funds in the County utilizing a cost share distribution formula based upon the total type of number of vehicles in each fund.  For example, a Fire Truck will have a higher cost share than a Police Patrol vehicle due to the maintenance cost difference between the vehicle types.  The purpose of the Fleet Fund is to more accurately account for all fleet costs over time and to better manage the fleet replacement schedules and transfers between departments. Any funds remaining at the end of the fiscal year will be maintained in this fund to assist with future fleet replacement costs. Over time, this fund will accumulate resources to become a revolving fleet fund, and a monthly "replacement" charge will be paid by departments to save for vehicle replacements. This will be phased in over several years and it is anticipated this fund will be fully revolving by FY2030. 

Status: The Fleet Fund is balanced at $8.26M through cost allocations of $3.83M and Fleet capital charges of $4.43M.

Information Technology Fund

Purpose: The Information Technology Fund houses all costs for Information Technology operations and capital.  Technological upgrades throughout the County necessitate a revolving IT Fund to allow for accurately assessing IT costs from year to year across all County departments.  Capital purchases of IT equipment and software are charged to the IT fund and charged back to the appropriate funding source through an IT capital charge.  Indirect operating costs for the Information Technology ISF are distributed to other funds in the County utilizing an FTE count by fund. Any funds remaining at the end of the fiscal year will be maintained in this fund to assist with future information technology upgrades and replacements of technological devices, such as servers and software replacements. Over time, this fund will accumulate resources to become a revolving information technology fund. This will be phased in over several years and it is anticipated this fund will be fully revolving by FY2030. 

Status: The Information Technology Fund is balanced at $7.5M through cost allocations of $5.9M and IT capital charges of $1.6M. 

Insurance & Benefits Fund 

Purpose: The Insurance & Benefits Fund maintains the costs of all county insurance and employee benefits, which includes health insurance and all other employee benefits (excluding pension), worker's compensation insurance, and property & liability insurance.  These costs are distributed to the other funds of the county through indirect & direct cost allocations based upon the number of FTEs charged to each fund. At the end of the fiscal year, any funds remaining in this fund will be distributed back to the paying funds at the same rate of the initial cost allocation. 

Status: The Insurance & Benefits Fund is balanced at $19M through cost allocations to other funds. 

Building Inspection Fund

Purpose: The Building Inspection Fund houses expenses of the Building Inspection Department, which are paid through applicant fees. State law requires fees collected from building inspections to be spent on that specific service and costs associated with the department.  This fund was created in FY20 to allow for more efficient financial reporting and tracking.

Status: The Building Inspection Fund is balanced at $1.12M, utilizing $107,590 in fund balance, primarily for capital purchases to support the operation. 

Revolving Loan Fund

Purpose: The Revolving Loan Fund was created through a grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and is intended to provide loans to qualified small businesses that fit the criteria of the DCA program. The program is administered through joint efforts of the Golden Isles Development Authority and Glynn County.

Status: The fund has a surplus revenue budget of $5,000 due to interest earnings on the funds. Because the fund is revolving, there are no expenses housed in the fund unless a loan defaults repayment. 

Solid Waste Fund

Purpose: The Solid Waste Fund reflects expenses and revenues for solid waste collections and includes curbside collection of household garbage, white goods collection, and litter control and enforcement. It also reflects landfill post-closure expenses.

Status: The Solid Waste Fund is balanced at $3.95M utilizing trash fees collected from the citizens of Glynn County.

Pension Trust Fund

Purpose: This Pension Trust fund houses the expenses and revenues for the Defined Benefit Pension Plan, which was closed to new participants in FY21.  This fund is a custodial fund that accumulates resources for the payment of pension benefits to all employees covered by the plan.  The contribution for FY25 is $4M, which includes the phasing in of updated mortality tables, a decrease in the assumed rate of return, and other changes as recommended by the Pension Fund Actuary. A Defined Contribution pension plan was added in FY21 for all new employees as well as employees wishing to convert to the defined contribution plan. Accounting for the new defined contribution plan is not included in this pension trust fund. This fund is balanced at $8.245M.