Whitfield County finance officer reports revenues above projections; board accepts ARPA grant and approves crisis intervention grant applications

At its Jan. 12 meeting the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners reviewed November 2025 financial results and approved grant actions to support court operations.

Chief Finance Officer Debbie Godfrey told the board November LOST (local option sales tax) collections were $1,318,612, 0.79% below the month’s budgeted amount but YTD LOST collections of $14,134,651 were 1.64% higher than the prior year. TAVT collections for November were $429,292, down versus October but up year-to-date compared with the prior year. YTD actual revenues totaled $38,386,768, exceeding projected revenues by $3,212,540 (9.13%), which Godfrey attributed to unexpected or unbudgeted payments from Solid Waste and LMIG. YTD expenditures were $58,266,541, $142,294 (0.24%) over projections. The board approved the November financial statement by a 4-0 vote.

The board unanimously accepted a final Judicial ARPA grant of $30,426 from the Judicial Council of Georgia; the award will fund an existing full-time investigator position in the district attorney’s office for approximately four months of 2026. Commissioners also approved applying for Bureau of Justice Assistance State Crisis Intervention Program continuation grants administered by the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Those continuation grants would fund a counselor for Domestic Violence Court and a Handgun Intervention Program for Juvenile Court for an April–September 2026 performance period and require no local match.

No fiscal contingencies or reductions were recorded in minutes at the time of approval; the board recorded unanimous approval of the revenue reporting and grant actions.