Washington City's utilities paid $1.9 million in administrative charges in 2025, and the budget plans more
Washington City's water, sewer, electric and storm drain funds were charged $1,898,225 for shared administrative costs in fiscal 2025. The fiscal 2027 budget raises the charge for three of them, and the city's public explanation of the method describes a 2015 study.
Continuing story: Auditing Washington City
Washington City's four utility funds were charged $1,898,225 in fiscal 2025 for their share of administrative services, according to the city's audited financial statements: $588,831 for water, $408,981 for sewer, $498,488 for electric and $401,925 for storm drain. The charges appear as an operating expense, "Administrative cost allocation." [1]
The fiscal 2027 adopted budget lists administrative costs of $826,382 for water, $528,335 for sewer and $671,296 for electric, compared with $715,449, $473,731 and $624,164 in the fiscal 2026 budget. [2]
For those three funds, the fiscal 2027 amounts total $2,025,013, compared with $1,496,300 in actual fiscal 2025 charges. The Ledger could not read the storm drain fund's budget page. [2][1]
How the city explains the charges
A city web page on enterprise fund transfers says the charges reimburse the general fund for each utility's share of services such as legal, information services, liability insurance, governance and human resources. [3]
The page says the finance department completed a cost allocation study using the reciprocal method in April 2015, based on fiscal 2014 actual figures, and that the city expected to reanalyze the distribution at least every five years. Its table shows budgeted reimbursements for 2019-20 of $339,860 for water, $121,380 for sewer, $679,716 for power and $48,555 for storm drain. [3]
The page does not say whether the study has been updated since then. [3]
Utility operating results
In fiscal 2025, the sewer fund reported an operating loss of $529,695 and the storm drain fund an operating loss of $679,546. The water fund reported operating income of $3,024,964 and the electric fund $2,509,159. Operating results include depreciation, which was $1,005,974 for sewer and $599,011 for storm drain. [1]
Operating results do not include impact fees or capital contributions. The sewer fund recorded $819,137 in impact fees and $5,638,632 in capital contributions; the storm drain fund recorded $823,613 and $4,462,737. [1]
On a cash basis, sewer operations provided $418,408 and storm drain operations used $76,789 in fiscal 2025. [1]
The report's narrative says all of the enterprise funds had increases in total net position during the year. [1]
Fiscal 2025 figures are audited actual results; fiscal 2027 figures are adopted budget amounts. The difference between them compares a budget with actual results two years earlier and is not a one-year increase in spending. An administrative allocation is a reimbursement for shared services recorded as an operating expense; it is not the same as a transfer of utility profits.
Sources
- Washington City · FY2025 audited financial statements (Squire & Company)
- Washington City · Resolution R2026-18 adopting the FY2026-27 budget
- Washington City · Enterprise fund transfers explainer
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.