Santa Clara: clean audit, fire budget and water rate schedule

The Ledger's review of Santa Clara'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 Santa Clara: What the city's budget and audit records show

Auditing Santa Clara follows the city's money through its own budgets, audits and council votes. The council adopted a fiscal 2027 budget with a $12,034,290 General Fund in June 2026, and the city's auditor gave its fiscal 2025 statements an unmodified opinion with no reported findings.

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Key figures

$12,034,290Santa Clara's fiscal 2027 General Fund budgetAuditing Santa Clara: What the city's budget and audit records show →
$11,263,915Amended fiscal 2026 General Fund budgetAuditing Santa Clara: What the city's budget and audit records show →
$67,720,934Total net position at June 30, 2025, per the auditorSanta Clara's fiscal 2025 audit reports no findings →
$3,495,650Fiscal 2025 increase in net position, per the auditor's slidesSanta Clara's fiscal 2025 audit reports no findings →
$4.3 millionSanta Clara's fiscal 2027 fire department budgetSanta Clara's fire budget rises to $4.3 million →
$2,513,858Ivins's fiscal 2027 budget line for Santa Clara fire and rescueSanta Clara's fire budget rises to $4.3 million →
$220,306Projected added water revenue from the first rate stepSanta Clara approves five-year schedule of water rate increases →
$4.60 millionPaid to UTAH ASSOC. MUNICIPAL POWER SYSTEMS, the city's largest payee in FY2026, as reported to the stateTransparent Utah: Santa Clara City highest-paid vendors FY2026 →

Each figure is as stated in the linked story, which cites its source.

Budgets, reserves and taxes

Santa Clara approves five-year schedule of water rate increases
On June 24, 2026, the Santa Clara City Council voted 4-0 for a water rate increase. The proposal in the packet raises each of six tier rates by 20 to 60 cents for 2026-27 and 2027-28, with a further 10 cents per tier from 2028-29 through 2030-31.
Published October 17, 2026 · Records checked October 17, 2026
Santa Clara's fire budget rises to $4.3 million
Santa Clara's fiscal 2027 budget raises the fire department budget from about $3.3 million to $4.3 million for three new firefighters and a second wildland crew. The city manager said the cost split with Ivins is about 43% Santa Clara and 57% Ivins.
Published October 17, 2026 · Records checked October 17, 2026

Contracts and spending

No story in the series on this yet.

Audits and compliance

Santa Clara's fiscal 2025 audit reports no findings
Squire & Company gave Santa Clara's fiscal 2025 statements an unmodified opinion and reported no material weaknesses, significant deficiencies or compliance findings. The audit was presented in a May 2026 council packet, and the city's finance page lists the fiscal 2023-24 audit as its most recent.
Published October 17, 2026 · Records checked October 17, 2026

Follow the money

Contracts and spendingContracts, bid awards and change orders recorded in the council meetings written up
Development and road trackerZoning, annexation and public projects
City council minutesCouncil meetings and work sessions written up, with official minutes
City meetingsCouncil and planning commission, item by item

Council and planning commission records written up so far: 1 meeting from September 23, 2026 to September 23, 2026. Not every meeting in that span may be included.

Budget and finances

FY2027 budget and financial overview (dashboard)From the city
FY2025 audited financial statements (May 13, 2026 council packet)Read the report for its fiscal year, auditor's opinion, findings and any draft designation.
State Auditor: local government financial reportsEvery budget and financial report Santa Clara has filed with the state; search for "Santa Clara"

Trace a decision to the money

Proposal: find the agenda item and staff packet. A proposal is not an approval.
Decision: check the minutes for the motion, vote, conditions and any later amendment. Draft minutes can change.
Agreement: look for the signed contract and change orders. An award does not prove a contract was executed.
Payment: compare invoices or payment records with the contract. An authorized amount is not the amount paid.
Year-end result: compare actual spending with the amended budget and read the audit findings and management response for the same entity and fiscal year.

Missing documents leave that step unconfirmed. Our audit series is reporting on public records; it is separate from the independent auditor's financial-statement opinion.

The records

Official documents the stories cite, from the city, the county and the state.

Audits and annual financial reports

Santa Clara City · May 13, 2026 council packet with fiscal 2025 audit report and auditor's presentationCited in Auditing Santa Clara: What the city's budget and audit records show; Santa Clara's fiscal 2025 audit reports no findings

Budgets and financial documents

Council minutes and agenda packets

Other city records

Reading audit findings

An unmodified opinion addresses the financial statements. A material weakness concerns controls and does not by itself establish fraud. Compare the same fiscal year and accounting basis; restated balances replace, but do not erase, originally reported figures.

How this works

Each story is filed under one subject when it is published. Where a record states something, the story says so and links it; where a story draws a conclusion or asks a question, it says that too.

Auditing Santa Clara: What the city's budget and audit records show

Key figures

Budgets, reserves and taxes

Santa Clara approves five-year schedule of water rate increases

Santa Clara's fire budget rises to $4.3 million

Contracts and spending

Audits and compliance

Santa Clara's fiscal 2025 audit reports no findings