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House passes bill directing auditor to aggregate cash and investments held by local governments
Summary
House Bill 475 passed the Utah House on March 3, 2025. The bill directs the state auditor to compile and publish an accessible report aggregating cash and investments reported in annual financial reports by political subdivisions; sponsors said the measure is intended to increase transparency without altering existing public-treasure practices.
The Utah House on March 3, 2025, approved first substitute House Bill 475, a measure requiring the state auditor to compile an accessible report aggregating cash and investments that political subdivisions report in their annual financial reports.
Why it matters: Sponsors said the bill will make already-public data easier to review across hundreds of political subdivisions and help inform policy discussions about reserves and cash balances statewide.
House discussion and scope
Representative Walter, the bill sponsor, told the House the bill builds on a 2024 report that prompted public conversations about cash reserves held in the public treasurer's investment fund. "All we're doing is taking that currently publicly available data and making it public in a more accessible way," Walter said on the floor. He described working with the state auditor's office to use tools and technology that can aggregate data across more than 1,000 political subdivisions.
In a question from Representative Albrecht, Walter clarified that the bill addresses data reported in annual financial reports (the cash and investments as of June 30) and does not change or reflect budget appropriations. "This isn't about budgets," Walter said; "it's the annual financial reports, not their budgets."
Votes and next steps
Voting was opened and closed on the bill; the House recorded 71 yea votes and 0 nay votes. Sponsors said the auditor's office will assemble the report using existing publicly filed numbers and the new process is designed to be transparent and not to discourage participation in the public treasurer's investment fund.
Implementation and caveats
The bill directs the Office of the State Auditor to publish aggregated data; exact publishing timetable and any user-interface features were not specified on the floor. Sponsors emphasized the data are taken from existing annual financial reports submitted by political subdivisions and that the bill does not change reporting deadlines or the underlying statutory requirements for annual financial reporting.
Representative Walter said the bill is intended to provide policymakers and the public with a comprehensive, accessible picture of cash and investments across cities, counties, school districts and special districts.
The bill will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.
