Saratoga Springs: tax increase, City Hall bonds and business-incentive agency
The Ledger's review of Saratoga Springs'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 Saratoga Springs: What the city's budget and audit show
The Utah Ledger begins a series examining Saratoga Springs' public financial records. This explainer sets out the city's adopted budget, its last audited year, its debt and the two related entities that sit inside its books.
Read the explainer →Key figures
- $156.4 millionAdopted 2026-27 budget, total revenue, all fundsAuditing Saratoga Springs: What the city's budget and audit show →
- $12.9 millionUnassigned General Fund balance, June 30, 2025 (audited)Auditing Saratoga Springs: What the city's budget and audit show →
- $3.1 millionForecast added property tax revenue per year from the 2026 increaseSaratoga Springs' $3.1 million tax increase is tied to police and fire staffing →
- $24.8 millionBuilding authority capital spending, fiscal 2025 (audited)Saratoga Springs' City Hall and library: building authority spending and payments →
- $1.1 millionDevelopment agency fund balance, June 30, 2025 (audited)Saratoga Springs' business-incentive agency had $1.1 million on hand, then no activity →
- $13.5 millionPaid to Big D Construction Corporation, the city's largest payee in FY2026, as reported to the stateTransparent Utah: Saratoga Springs highest-paid vendors FY2026 →
Debt and bonds
Saratoga Springs' City Hall and library: building authority spending and payments
Saratoga Springs financed its new City Hall and library through a building authority that issued lease revenue bonds. The city's audited report shows $24.8 million in authority capital spending in fiscal 2025, and its budgets set aside $3.8 million for the authority's debt payments in fiscal 2027.
Redevelopment money
Saratoga Springs' business-incentive agency had $1.1 million on hand, then no activity
Saratoga Springs' Community Development Agency, which the city describes as a tool to share sales tax with incoming businesses, ended fiscal 2025 with $1,115,389. The city's later budget documents show no agency revenue or spending budgeted for fiscal 2026 or 2027.
Budgets, reserves and taxes
Saratoga Springs' $3.1 million tax increase is tied to police and fire staffing
Saratoga Springs adopted a property tax increase in August that the city said would raise $3.1 million a year. The adopted budget ties it to police positions and part of the staffing for a future third fire station, and says it does not pay for the building.
Contracts and spending
No story in the series on this yet.
Audits and compliance
Saratoga Springs' 2025 audit lists two state compliance exceptions
Saratoga Springs' fiscal 2025 audit report, as filed with the state, says auditors found two instances of noncompliance with state requirements. Its management discussion describes the General Fund's unassigned balance as 50.7% of the fund's revenues; the report's own figures put that share at about 28.2%.