State Auditor to investigate Eagle Mountain City's money

Updated: 3/05 5:21 pm | Published: 3/04 9:21 pm

EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah (ABC 4 News) – The Office of the Utah State Auditor confirmed they plan to investigate specific allegations regarding the city’s funds.

Utah State Auditor, John Dougall, will investigate allegations into three things:
        1. The city’s utility and enterprise fund transfers and corresponding rates
        2. The city’s entertainment and travel expenses
        3. The alleged $7 million in sewer bonds that is missing

Read more about the state's response here.

Sam Allen, an Eagle Mountain resident, said he is excited the state plans to look further into his report. Allen compiled a report on the city’s finances and submitted it to the state.

“Accounting scandals usually aren’t sexy, but this thing has legs,” Allen said.

One of the main concerns in Allen’s report was the transfer of funds from the city’s Utility fund to the General fund. According to the state, they will examine whether Eagle Mountain City did conduct their transfers within the legal framework.

Eagle Mountain City Administrator Ifo Pili said the city has nothing to hide.

“We look forward to the state auditor coming through and doing whatever investigation they need to so we could put this to rest and move forward,” Pili said.

The state auditor has placed the investigation on their list of special projects, but could not say when they will start looking into each allegation.

There were also questions surrounding Eagle Mountain City’s offshore account in the Cayman Islands.

The Office of the State Treasurer said the use of offshore investment sweeps is common and legal under the Money Management Act. They also said such accounts have been in use by corporate and public treasurers in the state for many, many years. Read the report here.

Eagle Mountain, state auditor

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wynner672 - 3/4/2013 10:30 PM

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So tired of the sensationalizing. Let's get clear about the alleged "Cayman" accounts guys. It has been clarified by the city council that the account is set up through Zions Bank and for what ever reason the account is coined "Cayman Account" but is a domestic account. There is nothing scandalous about this. Stop trying to add flash to your reporting because you don't have anything better to add to a story which when it all shakes out will show nothing. It's absolutely incredulous. People are quick to react, point fingers and blame before having all the facts. I support Mayor Jackson, and felt she was forthcoming in the meeting to respond to the report. I'm disappointed at people in the community for their disgusting behavior toward city employees because they accepted data in the report as fact, when it wasn't. For example, the day after the report was out the receptionist received threatening phone calls and visitors because the report stated that she made $60K a year. She's a part-time employee making $8.50 an hour. But, so what if she did make that higher salary? She would be worth that and more. And, no one deserves to be treated that way at work. The good news is that a once complacent community is now showing involvement and some modifications are being made to our utility billing, like itemizations. We can thank this report for that, but it's highly unlikely the auditors will find anything extraordinarily out of order.

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