Auditing Alpine: what city records show about its audit, reserves, debt and 2027 budget

The Utah Ledger is reviewing the public financial records of Alpine city in a series called Auditing Alpine. The series reports what audits, budgets, council minutes, meeting packets and public notices state, and labels each figure with the year and basis it was reported on.

Alpine city's fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. Its most recent audited year is fiscal 2025, which ended June 30, 2025. ^[1]

The audit

Larson & Company of Spanish Fork dated its independent auditor's report on the fiscal 2025 financial statements Sept. 18, 2025. The report says the statements present fairly, in all material respects, the city's financial position, an unmodified opinion. ^[1]

The budgetary notes in the report state that all departments and funds were within budgeted appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. ^[1]

City Administrator Shane Sorensen told the council on Sept. 8, 2026 that the next annual audit had begun the previous week and that the auditors would report at a future meeting, likely in October or November. ^[6]

Reserves

The General Fund, which pays for most day-to-day services, ended fiscal 2025 with $4,067,607 in fund balance: $2,797,923 unassigned, $1,209,221 restricted and $60,463 nonspendable. ^[1]

General Fund revenue was $9,612,301 and spending was $7,137,157 in fiscal 2025. After a $2,100,000 transfer out of the fund, its balance rose $375,144, from $3,692,463 to $4,067,607. ^[1]

The Capital Projects Fund ended the year with a $7,922,163 balance, all assigned. Fund balances across all governmental funds totaled $14,374,082. ^[1]

The same balance sheet lists $641,071 in developer completion bonds payable and $2,087,988 in infrastructure protection bonds payable. These are amounts the city holds and reports as liabilities, separate from fund balance and from its bond debt. ^[1]

Debt

The audit's long-term debt note lists one bond issue: 2010 water revenue bonds originally issued for $5,875,000. On June 30, 2025, $1,829,000 was outstanding at 1.33% interest, with $356,000 due within a year and final maturity in October 2029. ^[1]

In June 2026 the council began a separate borrowing process for a fire station expansion, authorizing up to $2.5 million in sales tax revenue bonds. The minutes the Ledger reviewed through Sept. 8, 2026 do not record those bonds as issued. A separate story in this series covers that project. ^[7][6]

The fiscal 2027 budget

The fiscal 2027 final budget in the June 23, 2026 packet lists $7,865,188 in General Fund revenue and the same amount in spending. It lists $3,230,000 for the Capital Improvement Fund and $1,653,425 in water utility fund revenue and expenses. ^[2]

The council adopted the budget, Ordinance 2026-14, on June 23 with four yes votes and one abstention. The amended motion excluded executive and staff compensation increases and a new employee hire pending a public work session, kept roundabout funds restricted to the Ridge Drive and Canyon Crest project, and allocated PARC tax revenue 80% to parks and open space and 20% to historical, arts and cultural efforts. ^[3]

On July 14, the council voted 4–0, with Brent Rummler excused, to grant staff raises of 4%, split between a 2% cost-of-living increase for every employee and a 2% equity allocation at management's discretion, effective July 1, 2026, plus a 1% bonus after a performance review. The same motion replaced a full-time position's salary and benefits with a $100,000 allocation for professional consulting. The minutes say a public hearing and budget amendment are required to add wage increases back into the budget. ^[4]

For comparison, the fiscal 2026 final budget the council adopted June 24, 2025 as Ordinance 2025-15 listed $7,833,845 in General Fund revenue and spending. ^[5]

Public safety assessment

Alpine city's police and fire service comes through the Lone Peak Public Safety District, a separate entity. The fiscal 2027 budget message says that, based on the district's tentative budget, Alpine's public safety cost rises 13.94%, or $444,599, mostly from a change in the fire funding formula. ^[2]

The message says the district will reimburse $140,390 to cover a 50% step into the new formula in the first year, for a net fiscal 2027 increase of $304,209, and that the city will pay the full amount in fiscal 2028. ^[2]

What the series covers

The first stories in this series look at the fire station expansion's price, funding plan and payments; an emergency purchase for a Main Street crosswalk; the city's license-plate camera contract; and a development agreement on Healey Boulevard.