Auditing Plain City: what we're examining and why

The Utah Ledger is reviewing the public financial records of Plain City, Utah: budgets, the independent audit, State Auditor reports and council agendas. This series reports what those records show, and each statement links to the record it comes from. Plain City is in Weber County, and its fiscal year runs July 1 to June 30.

The fiscal 2025 audit says the city was incorporated July 3, 1967, is governed by an elected mayor and council, and has no component units. It reports sewer, storm drain and landfill funds as business-type funds. ^[1]

What the audit says

Ulrich & Associates, P.C., of Ogden issued its opinion on the city's financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2025, in a report dated Dec. 23, 2025. The firm said the statements present fairly, in all material respects, the city's financial position. ^[1]

Its report on internal control says it did not identify any deficiencies it considers material weaknesses, and that its tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards. ^[1]

Its state compliance report says the city complied, in all material respects, with the state requirements tested, which included budgetary compliance, fund balance, the justice court, restricted taxes and the fraud risk assessment. The schedule of findings lists one current-year finding: the Public Works department of the general fund exceeded budgeted expenditures at year end. A separate story in this series covers that finding. ^[1]

Reserves and debt

The general fund's balance rose $377,021 in fiscal 2025 to $4,313,353. Of that, $2,403,635 was restricted, including $1,224,596 of park impact fees, and $1,833,709 was unassigned. The capital projects fund held $4,595,287, all assigned to capital projects. ^[1]

The city's total net position, a measure that includes roads, pipes and other capital assets, was $34,611,535 at June 30, 2025. ^[1]

The city issued $3,000,000 in sewer revenue bonds in 2005 to fund sewer expansion. The audit reports $175,000 outstanding at June 30, 2025, down from $366,000 a year earlier, and says the bonds will fully mature on Aug. 1, 2025. ^[1]

The budget

The fiscal 2027 budget document on file with the state lists $5,623,455 of general fund revenue and $5,623,456 of general fund expenditures. The revenue includes $385,963 of restricted fund balance. Its pages are headed "Requested Budget." ^[2]

The document lists $1,750,000 of sales and use taxes and $235,325 of current-year property taxes. Among expenditures, it lists $787,801 on a police service line labeled "WCSO" and $875,000 for landfill and disposal charges. ^[2]

The council's notice for its June 18, 2026 meeting listed public hearings to make final adjustments to the 2025-26 budgets and to adopt the 2026-27 budgets. ^[4]

What this series covers

In April 2025, the State Auditor's office reported that the city had allowed some employees or volunteers to collect city payments through their personal payment-app accounts. The city's response and later records are covered in a separate story. ^[3]

Other stories in this series cover the storm drain fund, where the council scheduled an Oct. 15, 2026 hearing on a proposed fee increase, and the fiscal 2025 budget-compliance finding.

The audit reports no component units, and none of the records reviewed for this series mention a redevelopment or community reinvestment agency. ^[1]