Auditing Mona: what the Juab County city's financial records show

Auditing Mona is The Utah Ledger's series on how the city of Mona, in Juab County, raises, spends, borrows and reports public money. Each story rests on public records linked at the bottom of the page.

This first piece sets out the baseline from the city's audited financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, and the fiscal 2027 budget report the city filed with the Utah State Auditor. ^[1][6]

The audit

Gilbert & Stewart, CPA PC, of Provo, dated its report Dec. 3, 2025. Its opinion paragraph says the statements "present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the business-type activities of Mona City as of June 30, 2025." The report's first paragraph lists the governmental activities, business-type activities, each major fund and the remaining fund information as the statements audited. ^[1]

In its report on internal control, the firm said it "did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses" and that its tests "disclosed no instance of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards." ^[5]

In a separate report, it said Mona "complied, in all material respects" with the state compliance requirements it tested for fiscal 2025. They covered budgetary compliance, fund balance, restricted taxes, fraud risk assessment, government fees, cash management and crime insurance for public treasurers. ^[5]

Size and reserves

Mona's total net position, the difference between what it owns and what it owes, was $18,260,044 at June 30, 2025. That was up $148,257 from the year before. Of that total, $15,542,286 was invested in capital assets, $1,037,472 was restricted and $1,680,285 was unrestricted. ^[2]

Citywide revenue was $2,706,526 and expenses were $2,558,269. Governmental activities brought in $1,191,862, including $428,537 in sales tax and $82,204 in property tax. The water, sewer and natural gas utilities brought in $1,514,664. ^[2]

The general fund ended the year with a balance of $835,920, up $245,519. It included $477,899 restricted for Class C roads, $105,534 in park impact fees and $252,487 unassigned. A capital projects fund held $561,739 assigned for capital projects. ^[3]

Debt

The city had $5,869,000 in bonds outstanding at June 30, 2025, down from $6,210,000. The only governmental bond was a 2017 lease revenue bond with $119,000 left, maturing in 2037. ^[4]

The utilities carried $5,750,000. The largest piece was a 2010 sewer revenue bond with $4,535,000 left, maturing March 1, 2042. The rest were water bonds: $997,000 on 2022 improvement bonds, $145,000 on 2022 revenue bonds, $49,000 on 1999 revenue bonds due Jan. 1, 2026, and $24,000 on 2023 master plan bonds. ^[4]

The audit says the city pledged water and sewer revenues to repay these bonds. ^[4]

The budget

The fiscal 2027 State Budget Report, printed June 30, 2026, lists $1,324,240 in general fund revenue. That compares with $1,753,610 in the fiscal 2026 budget column and $1,179,812 actually collected in fiscal 2025. ^[6]

The fiscal 2027 general fund figures include $480,000 in sales and use tax, $210,000 in Class C road money and a $254,740 line labeled "Fund balance budgeted increase." ^[6]

The fiscal 2025 audit reports a general fund, a capital projects fund, a building authority fund, a perpetual care fund and three utility funds for water, sewer and natural gas. It says the city "has no component units." No redevelopment agency fund appears in it. ^[3][7]