Auditing Bluffdale
The Ledger's review of Bluffdale's budgets, audits, debt and redevelopment money.
The full audit section: stories by subject, key figures and records →
Background
Auditing Bluffdale: What the city's audit and budget show
Bluffdale's auditors gave clean opinions on its fiscal 2025 statements. The city's general fund budget for fiscal 2027 is about $17.3 million, and capital spending this year is dominated by the 14600 South railroad underpass. This series examines the records behind those numbers.
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- Politics
Eastern Bluffdale EDA's tax increment ends, shifting property tax back to the city
The Eastern Bluffdale economic development area collected $9.46 million in property tax increment in fiscal 2025 and is budgeted to collect none in fiscal 2027. The city's budget shows its own property tax revenue and public safety transfer rising, while the area's fees to the general fund end.
- Politics
Bluffdale's plan for its own police department leaves later payments to Saratoga Springs unset
October meeting materials propose a Bluffdale police department and a new agreement with Saratoga Springs, which has policed the city since 2013. The draft agreement leaves payments after December 2026 to later amendments, and a proposed budget change shifts $355,000 from the contract to city salaries and benefits.
- Politics
Bluffdale raises its public safety fee to $16.20 a month on a 4-1 vote
The City Council voted 4-1 in June to raise the residential public safety fee to $16.20 a month, with the same percentage increase for businesses and apartments. The budget projects $1,224,000 from the fee this year, up from $750,000 budgeted last year. As of Oct. 16, the city's rates page still listed the 2024 fees.
- Politics
Bluffdale's audit note shows a $4.6 million transfer moving the opposite way from its statements
A table in the notes to Bluffdale's fiscal 2025 audit shows $4.6 million moving from the water fund to the Local Building Authority. The audit's financial statements and the city's budget book show the money moving from the building authority to the water fund, a year after the water fund sent the authority $7 million.
- Politics
Bluffdale's $30 million underpass notes: two city records describe repayment differently
A legal notice says the principal on Bluffdale's 2026 bond anticipation notes is payable only from a future bond issue. The city's adopted budget says the note is planned to be repaid with state funds. The records reviewed don't include the closing documents or a state funding agreement.