Auditing Kearns: how the newest city's money is budgeted, reported and audited

Kearns incorporated as a metro township on Jan. 1, 2017. A 2024 ordinance says the Legislature's H.B. 35 converted Kearns and other metro townships into cities and towns effective May 1, 2024. ^[1]

Kearns's books are not kept in a stand-alone city system. Its year-end fund reports are printed as Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District standard financial reports and are marked for management use only. ^[6]

The district's audited statements report Kearns as a discretely presented component unit, a legally separate organization for which the district is financially accountable. ^[3]

Where the audit lives

The most recent financial report filed with the state under Kearns's name that The Ledger could open covers the district, not the city alone. It presents the district's statements for the six months ended June 30, 2024, with 'Kearns Metro Township' as one component unit. ^[2]

For the year ended June 30, 2025, the district's statements posted with its March 25, 2026 board meeting are marked draft. The auditor's report in that copy gives an unmodified opinion and adds an emphasis-of-matter paragraph saying the 2025 statements have been restated. ^[3]

In that draft, the Kearns column shows $12,411,461 in expenses, a $9,610,620 increase in net position and governmental fund balances that rose from $1,064,331 to $2,889,436. Its liabilities total $2,628,506 and include no bonds. ^[3]

The district board voted on March 25, 2026, to accept the audited statements. The minutes say legal counsel suggested several non-substantive wording changes. ^[8]

The FY2027 budget

The council adopted Ordinance 2026-O-05, the FY2027 budget, on June 8, 2026, by a 5–0 vote. The attached exhibits carry the heading 'FY 2027 Proposed Budget.' ^[4]

Fund 50 budgets $11,313,404 in revenue and spending. Revenue includes $6,750,000 in sales tax, $650,000 in SB 136 sales tax and $1,700,000 in class B&C road funds. Spending includes $1,093,404 for administration and a $9,915,000 contribution to the General Fund. ^[4]

Fund 55, the Council Designated Fund, budgets $1,513,121 in revenue, mostly municipal energy and telecom taxes, and $1,640,621 in spending, with $127,500 drawn from fund balance. The beer tax fund budgets $30,000 and the redevelopment agency fund $5,000. ^[4]

At the Sept. 14, 2026 council meeting, according to the minutes in the Oct. 5 packet, the finance director said sales tax is the main revenue source and Kearns levies no property tax. ^[5]

What this series follows

The stories in this series cover the district audit's capital-asset finding and its Kearns restatement, year-end fund balances, the city's first administrator and his pay ceiling, and a new police funding agreement. Each relies on the public records linked below. ^[3][7][6]