Auditing West Bountiful: an unmodified audit opinion, one budget finding and a redevelopment agency

West Bountiful's government reports its General Fund and redevelopment agency among its governmental funds, and runs four enterprise funds: culinary water, golf course, solid waste and storm drain. This series examines the city's finances using its audited financial statements and budget documents. ^[12]

The most recent audit covers the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025. Child Richards CPAs & Advisors of Ogden wrote that the statements "present fairly, in all material respects" the city's financial position, an unmodified opinion, in a report dated Jan. 12, 2026. ^[1]

Size of the city's finances

Total net position across governmental and business-type activities was $49,397,125 at June 30, 2025: $29,576,875 for governmental activities and $19,820,250 for business-type activities. Net investment in capital assets accounted for $35,028,260 of the total. ^[2]

The General Fund collected $6,076,881 in revenue against a final budget of $5,803,200, and spent $5,761,059 against final appropriations of $5,956,000. Sales taxes brought in $2,888,086 and property taxes $1,587,721. ^[3]

The General Fund ended the year with a fund balance of $2,695,155, of which $1,912,283 was unassigned. All governmental funds together held $9,801,577, including $4,090,652 in the Capital Projects Fund and $1,671,629 restricted for the recreation, arts and parks tax. ^[4]

The final fiscal 2025-26 budget, in the city's June 2025 budget document, set General Fund spending at $5,995,400. The tentative fiscal 2026-27 budget presented to the council on June 2, 2026, listed $6,458,900, and staff proposed adoption at the June 16 meeting. ^[9][10]

Debt

Management's discussion and analysis lists $7,798,863 in total debt outstanding at June 30, 2025. Of that, $4,890,000 was sales tax bonds, $1,258,000 water revenue bonds and $160,526 capital leases; the rest was compensated absences of $847,818 and a net pension liability of $642,519. It says total bond debt fell by $568,000 during the year. ^[5]

The audit finding

The auditors reported one finding, 2025-001, on budgetary compliance: "Total expenditures in the Golf, Solid Waste, and RDA funds exceeded final budgeted amounts." It lists the causes as unanticipated costs from the solid waste district, more merchandise bought and sold at the golf course plus a new cafe, and an incorrect estimate of the redevelopment agency's personnel costs. ^[6]

The finding states, "There is no effect on the financial statements. The City is noncompliant with the Utah Code." In their separate state-compliance report, the auditors wrote that the city complied in all material respects and that their opinion "is not modified" by the finding. They did not identify any material weaknesses in internal control. ^[6][7]

Redevelopment

The city designated the City Council and the mayor as the redevelopment agency's board, and the agency is reported as a major fund of the city. ^[13] In fiscal 2025 it received $201,398 in tax increment and spent $259,832: $97,878 on administrative costs and $161,954 in payments to a developer. Its fund balance at June 30, 2025 was $276,696. ^[8][4]

Adopted budget documents

The city's budget index lists the final fiscal 2026-27 budget as Resolution 594-26 and the second fiscal 2025-26 amendment as Resolution 593-26. Both files are posted as scanned images without readable text. ^[11]