Auditing Huntington: A $1.2 million general fund, $659,000 in park and fire-station bonds, and an unmodified 2025 audit opinion

Auditing Huntington is a series from The Utah Ledger that reads the Emery County city's public financial records: its audits, budgets and council minutes. Each story links the records it relies on.

This first piece sets out the baseline. It draws on the city's audited financial statements for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025, the most recent audit filed with the state, and on the fiscal 2027 budget the City Council adopted in June 2026. ^[1][12]

The audit opinion

Smuin, Rich & Marsing, certified public accountants in Price, audited the fiscal 2025 statements. Its report, dated Dec. 23, 2025, says the statements "present fairly, in all material respects" the city's financial position. ^[1]

In a separate report, the auditors said Huntington complied in all material respects with the state compliance requirements they tested for fiscal 2025. The areas tested include budgetary compliance, fund balance, enterprise fund transfers, the fraud risk assessment and the Open and Public Meetings Act. ^[9]

The auditors also reported that they found no internal control deficiencies they consider material weaknesses, and no reportable instances of noncompliance under federal Government Auditing Standards. ^[9]

The audit's schedule of prior-year findings lists one finding from fiscal 2024: the Service Center overspent its adopted budget in the general fund. The schedule says the item was corrected in fiscal 2025. ^[10]

The general fund

The general fund, the city's main operating account, took in $1,216,810 in fiscal 2025 and spent $1,112,924. After $50,000 in transfers out and $6,000 in transfers in, its fund balance rose from $538,074 to $597,960. ^[2]

The general fund's final amended budget for the year was $1,250,630 in spending; actual spending was $137,706 below that. ^[4]

Of the $597,960 balance, $433,383 is restricted for Class C roads and $153,791 is unassigned. ^[3]

For governmental activities, sales and franchise taxes brought in $642,950 and property taxes $121,771. ^[6]

Debt

At June 30, 2025, the city owed $659,000 on three lease revenue bonds issued through the state's Community Impact Board. ^[5]

The 2011 bonds, $500,000, came with a $900,000 grant and paid for a fire station and EMS building; they are interest free, and $279,000 was outstanding. The 2014 bonds, $433,000 at 1.5% interest, paid for park and rodeo grounds improvements; $309,000 was outstanding. The 2017 bonds, $100,000 at 2.5%, paid for park restrooms, sidewalks and related improvements; $71,000 was outstanding. ^[5]

Principal and interest on all three, through 2045, total $724,745 in the audit's repayment schedule. ^[5]

Net position and utilities

Total net position, the government-wide measure of assets minus liabilities, was $10,597,824 at June 30, 2025. The governmental activities' share fell $340,217 during the year, to $7,798,136. ^[6]

The city's two enterprise funds, a utility fund for water, sewer and sanitation and a secondary water fund, ended the year with $1,257,593 in cash. Together their net position rose $113,470. ^[7]

Redevelopment

The audit reports a small Community Reinvestment Fund, which it describes as used to make additional investments into services for the community. In fiscal 2025 it received $34,975 in taxes, spent $33,159 and ended with a $5,350 balance. ^[8]

The fiscal 2027 budget

At a June 17, 2026 public hearing, the treasurer presented a fiscal 2027 general fund budget with total revenue of $1,192,333, including $375,093 for parks, recreation and public property, $289,400 for highways and public improvements and a $75,000 transfer to capital projects. No public comments were recorded. ^[11]

Council members Judd Beagley, Tom Kay, Lesa Miller and Gloria Wilson voted yes on Resolution 10-2026, which adopts the budget, according to the minutes. The copy of the resolution posted with the meeting notice lists the same figures; its signature and vote lines are blank. ^[11][12]

On July 15, 2026, the council accepted a fraud risk assessment that Council Member Devin Wilson presented on behalf of the audit committee. The minutes say the audit committee performed the assessment and record a score of 365 out of 395. It is separate from the independent audit. ^[13]