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Where your Grantville GA utility bill goes: water, sewer, electric, gas and garbage, explained
The City of Grantville runs its own water, sewer, electric and natural gas systems, and it bills for garbage pickup. Each of the four services is kept in its own account, called an enterprise fund, and is meant to pay for itself from customers’ bills.
In the year that ended Sept. 30, 2025 (FY2025), they did not. The four utilities billed customers $3,948,896 and cost $4,277,155 to run, an operating loss of $328,259, according to the city’s audited financial statements (p. 11). Water and sewer accounted for almost all of it.
All figures are from the FY2025 audit by Gerald G. Pentecost Jr., CPA. Page numbers refer to the printed page numbers in the audit PDF. Shares and per-dollar figures are the Ledger’s math.
The four utilities at a glance (FY2025)
| Utility | Billed to customers | Cost to run | Operating income (loss) | Share of all utility billing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water and sewer | $1,388,570 | $1,700,100 | ($311,530) | 35% |
| Electric | $1,656,560 | $1,635,102 | $21,458 | 42% |
| Natural gas | $522,118 | $489,892 | $32,226 | 13% |
| Solid waste (garbage) | $381,648 | $452,061 | ($70,413) | 10% |
| All utilities | $3,948,896 | $4,277,155 | ($328,259) |
Source: FY2025 audit, Statement of Revenues, Expenses and Changes in Fund Net Position, p. 11.
Where each dollar went
The audit splits each utility’s costs into three buckets: costs of sales and services, general operating costs and depreciation. Depreciation is the yearly accounting charge for pipes, plants, lines and equipment wearing out. It isn’t a check the city writes that year.
Water and sewer: $1.22 spent for every $1 billed.
- Costs of sales and services: $452,809
- General operating costs: $941,378
- Depreciation: $305,913
Most of the loss is depreciation. Before depreciation, water and sewer came up $5,617 short of breaking even. That is still a loss, and the pipes and plants will need replacing. In FY2024 water and sewer roughly broke even on operations, with income of $209 (FY2024 audit, p. 11).
Electric: 99 cents spent for every $1 billed.
- Costs of sales and services: $1,147,115, about 69 cents of every dollar billed
- General operating costs: $425,902
- Depreciation: $62,085
The city has agreements with the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG), a public corporation the state created to supply electricity to city-owned systems. The audit says MEAG sets its rates to cover its costs (p. 46). Electric’s operating income fell from $236,373 in FY2024 to $21,458 in FY2025.
Natural gas: 94 cents spent for every $1 billed.
- Costs of sales and services: $171,608. That matches what the city paid the Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia (MGAG) for gas in FY2025. The audit says the city’s contract requires it to buy all its natural gas from MGAG (p. 46).
- General operating costs: $269,142
- Depreciation: $49,142
Gas turned around from a $46,139 operating loss in FY2024 to $32,226 in income in FY2025.
Solid waste (garbage): $1.18 spent for every $1 billed.
- Costs of sales and services: $425,163, more than the $381,648 the city billed for the service
- General operating costs: $26,898
Solid waste went from $58,072 in operating income in FY2024 to a $70,413 loss. Its net position (roughly, what the fund owns minus what it owes) fell from $110,195 to $39,531 (p. 11). Another year like FY2025 would wipe out what’s left.
If utilities lost money, why are they “up” for the year?
The utility funds’ combined net position still grew by $769,096 in FY2025 (p. 11). Three things made the difference:
- SPLOST-funded improvements. $867,590 in water and sewer projects paid for with the special-purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) were moved onto the water and sewer fund’s books, plus $23,000 for electric (pp. 11, 34). That shows up as a gain, but it’s new pipe and equipment, not cash from customers.
- Investment income. Electric earned $113,493 and gas $37,579 in investment income (p. 11).
- A grant. Electric received a $46,565 capital grant (p. 11).
Do utility bills help pay for the rest of city government?
A little. The audit says transfers are used, among other things, to “move unrestricted revenues from utility funds to the General Fund to supplement operations of the City” (p. 33). In FY2025 the utility funds transferred out $70,233, almost all of it ($69,730) from electric, and received $19,545 from other funds (p. 33). The General Fund pays for police, fire, streets and City Hall.
Why it matters
- Water and sewer are the city’s biggest utility problem on paper: a $311,530 operating loss, up from about break-even a year earlier.
- Garbage collection cost more than the city billed for it.
- Electric’s profit, which can help cover other city costs, nearly disappeared.
The audit doesn’t discuss utility rates or say whether the city plans to change them. If utility rates come before City Council, you can speak at the meeting. See how Grantville government works and how to speak at meetings.
Read more
- Fiscal Watch: Grantville GA budget, audits and city finances, with the full FY2024 and FY2025 audit highlights
- Grantville’s FY2027 budget and 17.5% tax increase, explained
- Upcoming council meetings