After an audit finding, Smithfield approved moving $3 million into its capital fund
The City Council voted 5–0 in December 2025 for a budget amendment that moved $3 million from the General Fund to the Capital Improvement Fund, which the city manager tied to the audit's 35% fund-balance threshold. A later budget filing estimates a larger FY2026 transfer.
Continuing story: Auditing Smithfield
Two months after its FY2025 audit found the General Fund's unreserved balance above a state threshold, the Smithfield City Council approved a budget amendment that moved $3 million from the General Fund to the Capital Improvement Fund. [1]
The council adopted Resolution 2025-12, amending the FY2026 budget, by a 5–0 vote on Dec. 10, 2025. Councilmembers Wade Campbell, John Engler, Sue Hyer, Todd Orme and Jenn Staker voted yes. [1]
What the city said
Presenting the amendment, City Manager Justin Lewis described the $3,000,000 transfer and said, "It is not being spent; it is only being moved between funds," according to the minutes. He said, "The proposal is to transfer more than is needed to get under the 35% threshold." [1]
The audit's finding 2025-02 had reported the General Fund's unreserved balance at 36% of revenue, above the 35% state threshold. City officials had responded in the audit that a transfer would be made during the December midyear budget adjustments. [7]
At a March 25, 2026 budget session, Lewis said an audit finding the previous year was that the General Fund's unreserved balance was too high, "so a transfer was made to the General Capital Improvement Fund," according to the minutes. [4]
Two different transfers
The FY2025 audit already includes a $2,000,000 transfer from the General Fund to capital projects during that fiscal year. It predates the December 2025 amendment. [2]
The FY2027 budget the city filed with the State Auditor in July 2026 shows, in its FY2026 estimate column, $3,580,177 transferred from the General Fund to the General Capital Improvement Fund. The same filing budgets a $290,316 transfer for FY2027. [3]
The FY2026 audit had begun in August 2026 and would most likely be presented in December, Lewis told the council on Sept. 9. [5]
The $3 million is a transfer between two city funds approved in a budget amendment. It is not new spending, and the records reviewed do not show the posted accounting entry. The $3,580,177 figure is an estimate in a budget document, not an audited amount.
Sources
- Smithfield City Council · Dec. 10, 2025 City Council minutes
- Smithfield City · FY2025 audited financial statements, interfund transfers note (filed with the Utah State Auditor)
- Smithfield City · FY2027 approved budget, General Fund transfers and capital fund (filed with the Utah State Auditor)
- Smithfield City Council · March 25, 2026 City Council minutes
- Smithfield City Council · Sept. 9, 2026 City Council minutes
- Smithfield City · FY2025 audited financial statements, General Fund budget and actual schedule (filed with the Utah State Auditor)
- Smithfield City · FY2025 audited financial statements, schedule of state compliance findings, current year (filed with the Utah State Auditor)
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.