Bluffdale's audit note shows a $4.6 million transfer moving the opposite way from its statements
A table in the notes to Bluffdale's fiscal 2025 audit shows $4.6 million moving from the water fund to the Local Building Authority. The audit's financial statements and the city's budget book show the money moving from the building authority to the water fund, a year after the water fund sent the authority $7 million.
Continuing story: Auditing Bluffdale
Bluffdale's fiscal 2025 audit describes the same $5.2 million in transfers two different ways. A table in the notes shows money flowing into the Local Building Authority, while the audit's financial statements show it flowing out. [1][2]
The building authority is a separate legal entity governed by the mayor and City Council that finances and builds city facilities and leases them back to the city. The audit reports it inside the city's statements as a blended component unit. [12]
The note table
Note 7, titled "Interfund Tranfers" in the report, has a table with columns labeled "Transfers out" and rows labeled "Transfers in." In the Local Building Authority row, it lists $4,600,000 under the water column and $600,000 under capital projects, for $5,200,000 into the authority. Its capital projects row shows $1,600,000 in, all from the general fund. [1]
The statements
The governmental funds statement shows the building authority with $5,200,000 of transfers out and no transfers in. It shows the capital projects fund with $2,200,000 of transfers in. [2]
The authority's budget-to-actual statement shows a final budgeted and actual transfer out of $5,200,000. Its final budget had also included a $3,846,025 transfer in; the actual column shows none. [3]
The water fund's income statement reports $4,600,000 of transfers in, and its cash flow statement lists a $4,600,000 "transfer from other fund." [4][5]
The city's fiscal 2027 budget book, in its fiscal 2024-25 actual column, lists a $4,600,000 "transfer to water fund" and a $600,000 "transfer to capital projects" from the authority, a $4,600,000 "transfer from LBA" in the water fund and a $600,000 "transfer from LBA" in capital projects. [6][7][8]
The year before
In fiscal 2024, the transfer ran the other way in every presentation. The water fund reported $7,000,000 of transfers out, and the authority reported $9,000,000 of transfers in. [9][10]
Management's discussion that year said the key element of the water fund's decrease in net position was "a contribution towards City infrastructure for a public works building." In fiscal 2025, management attributed the water fund's increase to "a contribution towards City infrastructure for the new public works facility." [11][15]
The fiscal 2025 government-wide statement of activities shows net transfers of $3,817,854 from governmental activities to the water fund's business-type activities. That is $782,146 less than $4.6 million, the same amount the water fund reports as a loss on disposal. The records reviewed don't explain the relationship. [14][4]
The building and its lease
The authority issued a $16,000,000 lease revenue bond in fiscal 2025 at 5% interest, maturing in 2045, and received $1,862,692 in premium. Its fiscal 2025 capital outlay was $9,545,636. [16][3]
The fiscal 2027 budget says construction was completed in fiscal 2025 with some carryover costs, and that "the overall cost of the project remained within the approved budget." It says lease payments from the general fund and water fund begin in fiscal 2027; the water fund page of the same budget says the water fund's portion of the lease payment would begin in fiscal 2026. [17][18]
This story compares presentations within public records. A difference in how a note table labels a transfer's direction does not establish that money is missing, that both transfers occurred or that any law was broken. The auditor's opinions on the fiscal 2025 statements were unmodified.
Sources
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, Note 7 interfund transfers
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, governmental funds revenues, expenditures and changes in fund balances
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, Local Building Authority budget and actual
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, water fund revenues, expenses and changes in net position
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, water fund cash flows
- City of Bluffdale · FY2027 budget, LBA fund detail
- City of Bluffdale · FY2027 budget, water fund detail
- City of Bluffdale · FY2027 budget, capital projects fund detail
- City of Bluffdale · FY2024 audited financial report, water fund revenues, expenses and changes in net position
- City of Bluffdale · FY2024 audited financial report, Local Building Authority budget and actual
- City of Bluffdale · FY2024 audited financial report, management's discussion and analysis
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, Note 1 reporting entity
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, independent auditor's and internal control reports
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, change in net position
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, management's discussion of business-type activities
- City of Bluffdale · FY2025 audited financial report, Notes 5 and 6 revenue bonds and long-term liabilities
- City of Bluffdale · FY2027 budget, Local Building Authority narrative
- City of Bluffdale · FY2027 budget, water funds narrative
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.