Auditing Centerville: what city records show about its audit, reserves, debt and 2026 budget

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

Centerville's fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. The most recent audited year available for this review is fiscal 2025, which ended June 30, 2025. ^[1]

The audit

Larson & Company, PC, of Spanish Fork gave an unmodified opinion on the city's fiscal 2025 financial statements in a report dated Dec. 9, 2025. ^[1]

Martha Hayes of Larson & Company presented the audit to the City Council on Dec. 16, 2025. According to the minutes, she reported no material weaknesses in internal controls and no reportable instances of noncompliance. The council voted 5–0 to accept the report after the audit committee recommended acceptance. ^[2]

Reserves and spending

The General Fund, which pays for most day-to-day services, reported $10,637,850 in revenue and $9,283,370 in expenditures in fiscal 2025, before transfers to and from other funds. Its fund balance rose $1,621, from $3,334,524 to $3,336,145. Of the year-end balance, $3,191,355 was unassigned. ^[1]

The redevelopment agency's fund had a $4,193,571 balance on June 30, 2025, including $940,874 restricted for a theater reserve fund. The Capital Projects Fund had a $6,686,169 balance. ^[1]

Across all city activities, total expenses were $20,108,907 in fiscal 2025. The city's total net position, a measure that includes capital assets such as roads and utility systems, was $81,525,266. The report says the council did not increase property taxes for fiscal 2026. ^[1]

Debt and UTOPIA

The report lists no revenue bonds for governmental activities on June 30, 2025, and a $391,000 note payable, down from $796,000 a year earlier. Business-type activities, which include the city's utilities, had $955,122 in revenue bonds outstanding, down from $1,078,218, and a $404,210 note payable. ^[1]

The city's Telecom Fund collects and remits payments on notes between city residents, the city and the Utah Infrastructure Agency that finance fiber-optic network connections, according to the report. ^[1]

The city manager's fiscal 2027 budget message lists a water revenue bond that expires in 2031 and an annual pledge to UTOPIA that expires in 2040. ^[3]

At the council's Sept. 2, 2025 meeting, UTOPIA Fiber Executive Director Roger Timmerman said UTOPIA had reimbursed the city $156,000 in 2025 and budgeted $167,000 for 2026, according to the minutes. City Manager Brant Hanson said at the same meeting that redevelopment agency funds were being used to pay the UTOPIA bond payments. ^[5]

The fiscal 2027 budget

The adopted fiscal 2027 budget totals $37,198,136 across city funds. The budget book says that total excludes the redevelopment agency, which adopts its own budget, and includes transfers between funds. The General Fund budget is $13,961,346. ^[3]

Finance Director Nate Plaizier told the council on Aug. 25, 2026 that the city faced a fiscal 2027 shortfall of about $1.5 million and that continued reliance on fund balance was not sustainable long-term, according to the minutes. The council then raised the city's property tax rate and adopted the final budget, 4–1. ^[4]

Stories in this series

The fiscal 2027 property tax increase; the planned $2.4 million interfund loan for the Main Street waterline; the redevelopment agency's emergency-radio purchase for CenterPoint Theatre; and the 2025 Legacy Crossing incentive exception.