Auditing La Verkin: what the city's fiscal 2025 audit says about its money

La Verkin is a municipal corporation in Washington County that operates under a mayor-council form of government, according to its audited financial statements. The audit says the city has no component units. ^[10]

The Utah Ledger is reviewing La Verkin's public financial records and reporting only what the documents state. Each story in this series links every figure to the record it comes from and names the dates it covers.

The fiscal 2025 audit

Rees CPA, a Cedar City accounting firm, audited the city's financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. In its Jan. 30, 2026, report, it said the statements "present fairly, in all material respects" the city's financial position. ^[1]

In the general fund, the city's main operating fund, fiscal 2025 revenues were $4,600,000 and expenditures were $4,360,718. Sales taxes brought in $1,325,949 and property taxes $487,578. ^[3]

The general fund's balance rose by $593,637 to $2,925,962 at June 30, 2025. Of that, $2,493,402 was unassigned. The rest was restricted for debt service ($41,683), capital projects ($104,326), Class C roads ($143,999) and recreation and parks ($142,551). ^[2][3]

Total governmental fund balances were $2,841,325. That total includes a negative $370,557 balance in the Capital Projects Fund, the city's other major governmental fund. ^[2]

Of the city's $5,274,387 in cash and investments at June 30, 2025, $5,122,389 was held in the State Treasurer's investment pool. ^[12]

Across all its activities, the city's net position was $11,320,591, an increase of $1,106,907 from the year before. ^[4]

Budget and actual

The city's original fiscal 2025 general fund budget projected $3,854,114 in revenue and $3,909,422 in expenditures. The final, amended budget projected $4,508,908 in revenue and $4,650,127 in expenditures. ^[7]

Actual general fund expenditures of $4,360,718 were $289,409 below the final budget. Actual transfers out of the general fund were $115,424, compared with $92,500 in the final budget. ^[7]

Debt at June 30, 2025

Governmental activities owed $1,663,097: $1,335,000 on 2022 sales tax refunding bonds, $199,000 on 2017 sales tax revenue bonds for roads, and $129,097 on leases for a police truck and a streets truck. ^[5]

The city's water and irrigation funds owed $1,572,000 on four bonds. The largest is $1,101,000 on 2022 water revenue bonds maturing in 2058. ^[6]

What the auditors flagged

The auditors reported no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting, and no instances of noncompliance required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards. ^[8][11]

They tested state compliance requirements in seven areas, including budgetary compliance and fund balance, and said the city complied in all material respects. ^[9]

They reported one state compliance finding, numbered 2025-01. It says the Capital Projects Fund had a negative fund balance, and that the budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, did not include an appropriation to begin removing it, as state law requires. A separate story in this series covers that finding. ^[8]