Auditing Santaquin
The Ledger's review of Santaquin'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 Santaquin: What the city's audit and budget show
This series examines Santaquin's public financial records. The city's audited report for fiscal 2025 received a clean opinion with no findings. This explainer sets out its budget, reserves, debt and redevelopment agency from those records.
Read the explainer →Key figures
- $3.7 millionGeneral Fund balance at June 30, 2025Auditing Santaquin: What the city's audit and budget show →
- $30.4 millionOutstanding debt reported at June 30, 2025, including an internal loanAuditing Santaquin: What the city's audit and budget show →
- $1,045,108Water bond 'Required 125%' amount, which equals 120% of debt serviceSantaquin's water bond schedule is labeled 125% but shows 120% →
- $2.13 millionPlanned FY2027 utility overhead charges to the General FundSantaquin's utility overhead charges to the General Fund nearly double in two budgets →
- $3.28 millionBalance of the irrigation-fund loan to capital projects, June 30, 2025Santaquin's General Fund is repaying a $3.6 million loan from the irrigation fund →
- $3.25 millionRedevelopment agency asset-sale proceeds in fiscal 2025Santaquin's redevelopment agency runs on land-sale money, including $250,000 for the library →
Debt and bonds
Santaquin's General Fund is repaying a $3.6 million loan from the irrigation fund
A 2023 loan from Santaquin's pressurized irrigation fund to its capital projects fund had $3,282,102 outstanding at June 30, 2025. City budgets show the General Fund making the payments, at 1% interest, on a loan that runs through 2041.
Redevelopment money
Santaquin's redevelopment agency runs on land-sale money, including $250,000 for the library
Santaquin's Community Development and Renewal Agency reported $3,253,219 from asset sales in fiscal 2025, and its only revenue was interest. Its fiscal 2027 budget plans $400,000 more in property sales and a $250,000 transfer toward the city's new library wing.
Budgets, reserves and taxes
Santaquin adopted the certified tax rate after giving notice of a possible increase
A May 22 notice set a June 2 hearing on Santaquin's tentative budget and a proposed property tax increase. On June 16 the council instead unanimously adopted the certified rate of 0.001399, and the final budget's lines for a fire-department tax increase are zero.
Santaquin's utility overhead charges to the General Fund nearly double in two budgets
Santaquin's water, sewer and irrigation funds paid the General Fund $1,075,000 in administrative overhead charges in fiscal 2025. The revised fiscal 2026 budget set those charges, now including storm drain, at $2,036,400, and the fiscal 2027 final budget sets them at $2,127,500.
Contracts and spending
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Audits and compliance
Sewer figures in Santaquin's 2025 audit narrative differ from its statements
The management's discussion in Santaquin's fiscal 2025 annual financial report gives sewer-fund results that do not match the audited statements in the same report. A supplementary schedule's totals column is also off by $49,205.
Santaquin's water bond schedule is labeled 125% but shows 120%
In two straight years, the bond schedule in Santaquin's audit prints a 'Required 125%' line for the water fund whose dollar amount equals 120% of debt service. The auditor reported no known bond noncompliance, and the records reviewed do not show which percentage the bond agreements require.