Lindon budgets $698,500 in utility fund transfers to its General Fund for 2026–27
Lindon's fiscal 2027 budget moves money from five utility funds to the General Fund. The hearing notice says the transfers are not cost allocations and will not be repaid. A council member asked whether they could be reduced in years with large rate increases; the council took no action.
Continuing story: Auditing Lindon
Lindon's budget for the year that began July 1 moves $698,500 from five city utility funds to the General Fund, which pays for services such as police, fire, streets and parks, according to the city's budget and the minutes of the June 15 hearing on the transfers. [1][2]
City Administrator Adam Cowie presented the transfers at a June 15 public hearing as required by state law, according to the minutes. [1]
The amounts
The minutes list $320,000 from the Water Fund, 3.9% of that fund's expenditures; $225,000 from Sewer, 6.3%; $32,000 from Solid Waste Collection, 3.7%; $120,000 from Storm Water Drainage, 4.0%; and $1,500 from Telecommunications, 5.0%. [1]
The hearing description says the transfers cover administrative costs and overhead and supplement services such as fire, police, streets and parks. It says they are not classified as cost allocations between funds and that the amounts will not be repaid. [1]
The approved budget lists the same five amounts as General Fund revenue, labeled as admin costs from each fund. It lists a separate "PW Admin Dept cost share" of $306,135 each from Water, Sewer and Storm Water. [2]
The question raised
Councilmember Jake Hoyt asked whether, in years when large utility rate increases are expected, the city could forgo or reduce the transfers to ease the effect on residents, especially those on fixed incomes, according to the minutes. [1]
Cowie said Lindon had done that in some prior years, either by skipping transfers or by supplementing enterprise funds with General Fund money. The council agreed that adjusting transfers in future years was worth considering but took no action at the hearing. [1]
Later that night, the council adopted the final budget, Ordinance 2026-11-O, 5–0. [1]
Two months later, when the council adopted a new sewer treatment facility fee, Hoyt suggested using the General Fund to partly offset it. The approved minutes say this was "recognized as impractical due to the specific nature of enterprise funds." [3]
These are budgeted amounts for fiscal 2027, not payments already made. The $698,500 is The Ledger's sum of the five transfers listed in the minutes and the budget. The separate Public Works cost shares are a different budget line and are not included in that sum.
Sources
- Lindon City Council · June 15, 2026 approved minutes
- Lindon City · FY2026–2027 Approved Annual Budget
- Lindon City Council · Aug. 17, 2026 approved minutes
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.