Auditing Cedar City
The Ledger's review of Cedar City's budgets, audits, debt and redevelopment money. Every story in the series, sorted by subject, with the figures the records show and links to the official documents.
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Auditing Cedar City: what the city's own records say about its money
A facts-only review of Cedar City's finances, starting with the fiscal 2026-27 budget the City Council adopted in June, its new reserve policy and the contracts on its October agendas.
Read the explainer →Key figures
- $36.5 millionFY2026-27 adopted general fund budgetAuditing Cedar City: what the city's own records say about its money →
- $1 millionFuture Heritage Center renovation reserve added to FY2027 budgetAuditing Cedar City: what the city's own records say about its money →
- $1.02 millionCovered arena project costs in Oct. 7 staff tableCross Hollow covered arena: staff lists $1,022,062 in costs against $1,004,119 available →
- $95,242Building impact fees in arena cost tableCross Hollow covered arena: staff lists $1,022,062 in costs against $1,004,119 available →
- $801,365Contract 2 award listed for Grimshaw DrillingQuichapa wells: Oct. 14 agenda lists second contract for Grimshaw Drilling at $801,365 →
- $117,500Final change order on 100 East roadway100 East roadway: final change order adds $117,500.05 to a $900,214.85 contract →
Budgets, reserves and taxes
Cedar City's new reserve policy: separate targets by fund, and two descriptions of the 25% floor
Cedar City's fund balance and reserve policy sets a general fund floor, a capital fund target and an enterprise fund standard. The Sept. 16 staff report and the policy text describe the general fund floor on different bases, and the adoption vote appears so far only in draft minutes.
Contracts and spending
100 East roadway: final change order adds $117,500.05 to a $900,214.85 contract
A proposed final change order on Cedar City's 100 East roadway project would raise the contract to $1,017,714.90. Staff attributes $69,296.07 to improvements along one property's frontage, and the funding table lists contributions from that property owner totaling the same amount.
Quichapa wells: Oct. 14 agenda lists second contract for Grimshaw Drilling at $801,365
Cedar City's Oct. 7 staff table funded a well-rehabilitation project using the low bid on both contracts. The Oct. 14 consent agenda listed the second contract for the second-lowest bidder, $17,440 higher, after staff said its eligibility as a local bidder would be addressed at the meeting.
Cross Hollow covered arena: staff lists $1,022,062 in costs against $1,004,119 available
Cedar City staff said in June that private donations would cover the new covered arena. An October staff table adds the metal building, a $396,762 construction bid and $95,242 in impact fees, leaving a $17,943 gap, and the council's Oct. 14 agenda included waiving some or all of those fees.