Auditing Parowan: what the city's audit and budget say about its money

Parowan, a city in Iron County, runs a general fund for services such as police, streets, parks and the library, plus five enterprise funds for water, sewer, electric, garbage and pressurized irrigation. This series follows the public records on how the city raises, borrows and spends money. ^[2]

This explainer sets out the baseline from the city's audited financial statements for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025, and from the proposed budget for fiscal 2027. ^[1][6]

The audit

Kimball & Roberts, a Richfield accounting firm, audited the city's fiscal 2025 statements. Its report, dated Dec. 1, 2025, says the statements "present fairly, in all material respects," the financial position of the city's governmental activities, business-type activities and each major fund. ^[1]

The city's total net position was $31,429,267 at June 30, 2025, up $2,214,263 from the year before. Governmental activities accounted for $11,619,073 and business-type activities for $19,810,194. Unrestricted net position was $12,492,870, and $10,581,405 of that was in the business-type activities. ^[2]

The auditors' state compliance report contains one finding: the city's fiscal 2025 fraud risk assessment was not completed and approved by the council within the fiscal year. A separate story in this series covers it. ^[5]

The general fund

The general fund took in $3,267,279 in fiscal 2025 and spent $3,575,739, and it transferred $50,000 to the capital projects fund. Its fund balance fell by $358,460, from $1,029,655 to $671,195. Of the ending balance, $578,228 was unassigned and $92,967 was restricted for impact fees. ^[3]

The audit says spending for fiscal 2025 was within the approved budgets. ^[9]

Debt

At June 30, 2025, the city reported $5,225,546 in revenue bonds outstanding: $721,393 for the Local Building Authority's 2015 bonds for the administration building, and $4,504,153 for the utilities. It also reported $146,452 in leases payable. ^[2]

Of the utility bonds, the water fund owed $1,043,000 on bonds issued in 2008 and 2013, the sewer fund owed $375,153 and the electric fund owed $3,086,000. ^[4]

These are balances owed at one date. They do not include the water-system borrowing the council authorized in June 2026. ^[4][8]

The fiscal 2027 budget

The fiscal 2027 budget document presented by the city manager calls itself "the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026–2027." It lists a $6,099,815 general fund, an $11,077,166 water fund, a $3,230,850 electric fund, a $903,000 sewer fund and a $7,540,661 combined capital improvement fund. ^[6]

The proposed general fund includes $895,362 in property tax, $900,000 in state sales and use tax and $374,051 of beginning fund balance to be appropriated. ^[6]

The proposed water fund lists $8,665,490 in bond proceeds, $1,250,976 in state grants and $9,994,466 in capital outlay. The budget message says projects in the budget are contingent on receipt of grant funding. ^[6]

The council's June 11, 2026 agenda listed adoption of the fiscal 2026-27 budget as Resolution 2026-10. The minutes posted for that meeting are a scanned image. ^[7]

What this series will follow

The largest item in front of the city is the water project. On June 11, 2026, the council's agenda listed a resolution authorizing not more than $12,000,000 in water revenue bonds. The city's hearing notice says the bonds are expected to be issued for no more than $9,675,000. A separate story in this series explains the numbers. ^[7][8]

Parowan's audits do not report a redevelopment or community reinvestment agency. The fiscal 2025 statements include one component unit, the Local Building Authority. ^[2]