Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0How is Fitzgerald run?
Fitzgerald’s city government spent $17.1 million on day-to-day services in the year to December 31, 2024, about $1,917 per resident. Water and other utilities ($29.2 million) are counted separately.
What stands out about how Fitzgerald is run
Read from the city’s budget and official records.
About $1,917 per resident a year, or $5.25 a day
Day-to-day services only. The biggest line: sewer & trash, at 39%.
Thank you for being a neighbor
No comparison for Fitzgerald yet
The fair comparison uses 2022, the last year the Census Bureau counted every government (later years are a sample). Fitzgerald’s 2022 figures are a Census estimate (it reported 36% of its 2022 dollars), so it has no like-for-like peer figure. It reported 2024; the next full count is 2027.
How Town Hall compares budgets →Day-to-day spending is up 4% since 2023
Day-to-day services, in dollars, in the years Fitzgerald reported to the Census Bureau. Prices rose too: about 4% a year in 2022–2024.
Day-to-day spending by fiscal year
Per resident: 2023: $1,828 · 2024: $1,917.
Building projects, interest and enterprises (hospital, utilities) are left out, so a big construction year doesn’t read as growth.
The typical homeowner pays $1,191 a year
Every local property tax on the home: town, schools and county. About 1.20% of the home’s value, vs 0.77% across Georgia.
Typical yearly bill next door and statewide
The Housing page’s calculator splits a monthly payment into loan, tax and insurance at Fitzgerald’s rate.
Can I afford it? →The median bill homeowners report to the Census survey (bills of $10,000+ are reported as “$10,000+”). The effective rate is that bill ÷ the median home value: a rough guide, not the official tax rate.
Tax bills are one input to Fitzgerald’s Cost of living grade. Cost of living in Fitzgerald →
Who’s in charge in Fitzgerald
Names change after every election, so we link to the source that keeps them current.
Fitzgerald’s meeting calendar isn’t in our feed yet. The city posts agendas and minutes on fitzgeraldga.org ↗.
One full-time city employee for every 48 residents
On the payroll in March 2022, from the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll. Residents: the Census population in the 2024 finance file (8,900).
By department full-time, plus part-time, March 2022
The Census reports one month’s payroll (March); yearly figures are that month × 12, an estimate. Part-timers count half in the bar lengths.
Ben Hill County School District
Fitzgerald’s K–12 school district. It’s its own government, with a budget separate from the town’s.
Of the $15,286 per pupil, $9,926 goes to the classroom (teachers, aides, supplies); the rest to buses, buildings, counselors and administration. Building projects and debt payments aren’t in the per-pupil figure.
Georgia districts overall: 49% local, 39% state, 12% federal.
School year 2023–24. Census Bureau school finance survey.
Fitzgerald’s votes are counted by county
Georgia reports official results by county and precinct, not by city, so there are no official results for Fitzgerald alone, and we don’t estimate them. These are Ben Hill County’s results.
Donald J TrumpRepublican65.9%4,281 votes
Kamala D HarrisDemocrat33.8%2,199 votesOthers: 0.3% (21 votes).
Most votes in Ben Hill County: Donald J Trump
Georgia: Trump 50.7%, Harris 48.5%
100% of Fitzgerald lies in Ben Hill County; the rest in Irwin County. Every 2024 race in Ben Hill County is on the county’s page.
Ben Hill County’s 2024 results →Official 2024 general election returns, as certified (MIT Election Data + Science Lab). Percentages are of votes for candidates; blank and spoiled ballots aren’t counted. Candidates are listed by votes, and party colors are neutral on purpose.
Portraits: Kamala D Harris: official vice-presidential portrait, Lawrence Jackson, The White House, 2021; Donald J Trump: official portrait, Shealah Craighead, The White House, 2017. All are U.S. government works in the public domain. A race shows photos only when every candidate has an official portrait; otherwise every candidate in it gets initials.
From town hall to Washington
Every level of government that speaks for Fitzgerald.
- 1Your cityMayor & councilOfficials: fitzgeraldga.org ↗
- 2Georgia HouseFitzgerald is split between 2 districts
- 3Georgia SenateState senator
- 4GovernorStatewide
- 5U.S. HouseYour representative in Congress
- 6U.S. SenateBoth represent all of Georgia
Democrat · Republican · other or independent. Tap a name for their official page.
Reach Fitzgerald’s government
The official site has phone numbers, hours and forms. Neighbors add the rest to the Handbook.
Questions about Fitzgerald’s government
How much does Fitzgerald spend per resident?
About $1,917 per resident on day-to-day services in the year to December 31, 2024, as reported to the Census Bureau.
What is the property tax rate in Fitzgerald?
Homeowners report a typical bill of $1,191 a year (Census ACS, 2020–24), about 1.20% of the typical home’s value, vs 0.77% across Georgia. For the official rate per $1,000 of assessed value, see fitzgeraldga.org.
Who runs Fitzgerald’s government?
See fitzgeraldga.org for current officials. We name an official only when a public source lists a current term, and none does for Fitzgerald yet.
How did Fitzgerald vote in 2024?
Georgia counts votes by county and precinct, not by city, so there are no official results for Fitzgerald alone. Ben Hill County, where 100% of Fitzgerald lies, voted Trump 65.9%, Harris 33.8% for president; its page has every race.
How many people work for Fitzgerald?
186 full-time and 19 part-time employees in March 2022, with a March payroll of $750,808 (about $9.0M a year if every month were the same), as reported to the Census Bureau.
Who represents Fitzgerald in the state legislature?
Fitzgerald is split among 2 State House districts, so your address decides. The Georgia Legislature’s lookup finds yours. Its State Senate district is District 13 (Carden Summers). Listed by Open States; districts from the Census Bureau.
Ask neighbors about Fitzgerald’s government
Neighbors who’ve been to the meetings can help.
Budget and staff: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments (2022, every government) and Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (2023–24, a sample) and the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll; day-to-day spending is current operations, with hospitals, utilities and airports apart. School district: Census school finance survey, 2023–24. Property tax: Census American Community Survey, 2020–24. Elections: official 2024 returns via the MIT Election Data + Science Lab; turnout uses Census citizen voting-age population (CVAP, 2020–24). Officials: Open States, names shown only with a current term (checked October 9, 2026). Districts: Census Bureau (119th Congress, 2024 state districts); legislators: Open States and congress-legislators. How Town Hall works →