Auditing South Ogden: the budget, reserves, debt and audit findings, from the city's own records

South Ogden is a separate city from Ogden, with its own council, budget and community development and renewal agency. This series reads South Ogden's own public records, including its budget, its audit reports and council minutes, and reports what they show. ^[1][2][3]

The budget

The City Council voted 5–0 on Aug. 4, 2026, to adopt Resolution 26-21, the FY2027 final budget, after public hearings on the budget and on an increase in the city's portion of property taxes. ^[4]

The final budget lists $19,882,950 in General Fund revenue and $19,882,950 in General Fund expenditures. Those totals include transfers to other city funds. ^[1]

General sales and use taxes are the largest single revenue line, at $6,210,000. Current-year property tax collections are budgeted at $5,099,962. A budget note says the 10.3% property tax increase equals $476,331 in additional revenue. ^[1]

The General Fund is balanced in part with $678,888 of appropriated fund balance, money drawn from existing reserves rather than new revenue, plus $49,000 of appropriated Class C road fund balance. ^[1]

Reserves

At June 30, 2025, the city's governmental funds held $11,374,470 in total fund balance. The General Fund held $4,324,243, of which $2,528,054 was unassigned. ^[2]

The city's total net position was $73,257,254, up from $71,226,492 a year earlier. Net position includes capital assets such as roads and buildings and is not the same as cash. ^[2]

Debt

Revenue bonds outstanding fell from $5,830,000 at the start of fiscal 2025 to $5,200,000 at June 30, 2025, with a separate unamortized premium of $226,604. ^[2]

The FY2027 budget lists an $860,000 General Fund transfer to the Debt Service Fund. A budget note lists $635,000 in principal and $231,000 in interest on the Series 2019 bonds and says they "expire in 2039." The audit's narrative says the bonds will be fully retired by 2029, while the audit's repayment schedule runs through 2039. ^[1][2]

The audit

K&C, CPAs, of Woods Cross dated its report on the fiscal 2025 financial statements March 3, 2026. It states that the statements "present fairly, in all material respects" the city's financial position. ^[2]

In a separate report, the auditor said the city "complied, in all material respects, with the state compliance requirements" it tested. The same supplemental report lists four findings: a material weakness in year-end financial close procedures, spending above the budget in the South Ogden Days fund, an overstated fraud risk self-assessment score and justice court trust accounts not reconciled monthly. ^[3]

Finance Director Peter Anjewierden introduced the auditor to the council on March 3, 2026. The minutes do not record a vote to accept the audit. ^[6]

Redevelopment

The audit describes the city's Community Development and Renewal Agency as a blended component unit, meaning its funds are reported inside the city's own financial statements. ^[2]

In June, the council raised the FY2026 tax increment budget for the City Center project from $415,000 to $650,000 and lowered the line for new agency projects from $328,000 to $93,000. ^[5]

The fiscal 2025 statements also record a $401,457 prior-period adjustment, added on the governmental side and subtracted from business-type activities, which include the city's utilities. The audit note explaining it was not readable in the posted file. ^[2]

What this series covers

The first stories follow the fiscal 2025 audit findings, the city's repeated spending above adopted budgets, the 2026 property tax increase, an $850,000 shift of utility reserves into the Water Fund and the council's approval of a new fire engine and ambulance. ^[3][4][5]