Auditing Provo: what the city's own records say about its money

The Ledger reviewed Provo's public financial records the same way it reviewed American Fork's. This series reports only what those records state, with each fact linked to the document it comes from.

Provo's city council adopted a $94.26 million general fund budget for fiscal 2027 on June 23, 2026, counting revenue and transfers from other city funds. Sales tax is the largest single source, at $30.26 million. ^[1][2]

How the general fund has grown

General fund revenue, not counting transfers, was $59.94 million in fiscal 2020, $62.83 million in fiscal 2021 and $65.04 million in fiscal 2022, according to the city's fiscal 2024 budget. ^[3]

The fiscal 2027 budget reports $68.16 million in fiscal 2023, $70.66 million in fiscal 2024 and $76.42 million in fiscal 2025, and budgets $77 million for fiscal 2027. ^[1]

General fund spending, not counting transfers out, went from $60.18 million in fiscal 2020 to $79.62 million in fiscal 2025, and is budgeted at $86.04 million for fiscal 2027. ^[3][1]

Utah law caps a city's general fund balance at 35% of estimated general fund revenue and requires at least 5%. ^[1] At the end of fiscal 2025, the city's finance director told the council that the assigned and unassigned general fund balance was just over $31 million, about 32%, the same percentage as the year before. ^[4]

What the series covers

Separate stories cover the city's debt, its audit results, the federal pandemic aid it received in 2021 and 2022, the payments its utilities make to the general fund, its redevelopment agency's tax increment, and the council's internal audit program.

The Ledger did not find a Utah State Auditor report or hotline finding specific to Provo City or its redevelopment agency. Vendor payment data from Transparent Utah could not be retrieved for this review.