Auditing Brigham City: what city records show about its budget, audit, debt and the Nucor project

The Utah Ledger is reviewing Brigham City's public financial records in a series called Auditing Brigham City. The series reports what the city's audited financial report, council minutes, budget packets and Utah Inland Port Authority resolutions state, and labels each figure with its year and basis.

Brigham City's fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. Its annual comprehensive financial report for the year ended June 30, 2025 was dated Dec. 18, 2025 by the auditing firm K&C, CPAs, of Woods Cross. ^[1]

The audit

Marcus Arbuckle of Keddington & Christensen presented the fiscal 2025 audit to the City Council on Dec. 18, 2025. The minutes say the firm issued an unmodified, or clean, opinion on the financial statements and made no internal-control recommendations. ^[5]

According to the minutes, the federal single audit reported no findings, the state compliance review reported no instances of noncompliance, and the auditor reported no uncorrected misstatements and no indications of fraud. ^[5]

Fund balance and net position

The General Fund's fund balance was $13,560,886 at June 30, 2025, of which $10,139,667 was unassigned and $3,382,248 restricted, the audited balance sheet shows. ^[2]

General Fund revenues were $31,154,704 and expenditures were $33,763,484 in fiscal 2025, not counting transfers. The report's management discussion says the fund's balance rose by about $1.2 million for the year. ^[3][1]

The city's total net position, an accounting measure of assets minus liabilities, rose to $163.0 million from $139.5 million, the report says. ^[1]

Debt

The city had $43.3 million in debt outstanding at June 30, 2025, compared with $20.3 million a year earlier. Most of it, $37.2 million, was owed by its business-type activities such as utilities, including $34.6 million in revenue bonds. ^[4]

The 2026-27 budget

On Aug. 20, 2026, the council adopted the final 2026-27 budget, 4–0 with one member excused. City Administrator Derek Oyler referred to it as an approximately $90 million budget. ^[6]

The meeting notice had advertised a 4.81% increase in property tax revenue, or $184,843. The adopted motion instead set the certified rate of .001740, estimated to produce about $3,846,456, and paid for $129,843 of city attorney costs from General Fund balance. ^[7][6]

Redevelopment and land

On Aug. 6, 2026, the council unanimously approved activating the Nucor project parcel in the Utah Inland Port Authority's Golden Spike project area, starting with the 2027 tax year, for 25 years. ^[8]

The port authority's board had authorized a participation agreement in November 2025 under which it would reimburse the city for Watery Lane substation work from tax increment, up to an estimated $9,085,000. ^[9]

On Oct. 1, 2026, the council approved selling about 13.53 acres of city land to Box Elder School District for a future elementary school. ^[10]

Stories in this series

How the Nucor tax increment is to repay city infrastructure first; the 2026-27 budget's certified-rate decision; the growth in city utility debt and utility transfers in fiscal 2025; and the school district land sale.