Preliminary Follow-up Report: An Audit of Salt Lake County Deferred Revenue

Auditor's Letter

September 8, 2025

In accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards and the established policies of the Auditor’s Office—as authorized by Utah Code Title 17, Chapter 19a, “County Auditor,” Part 2, “Powers and Duties”—we maintain our responsibility to monitor and ensure that audit recommendations are addressed by county agencies through appropriate corrective action. This process is also instrumental in shaping future audits.

This communication serves as the preliminary follow-up report for An Audit of Salt Lake County Deferred Revenue, following the original audit report issued in October 2023. That audit identified seven key findings with 22 associated recommendations, resulting in a total of 38 recommendations for the agencies within scope. The purpose of this review was to evaluate progress in addressing the findings and implementing recommendations aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and compliance.

In this preliminary follow-up audit, agencies have fully implemented 18 of the 38 audit recommendations, with 17 still in progress. We closed three recommendations after determining that the Surveyor’s Office should treat unreturnable permit fees as unclaimed property under Utah’s Unclaimed Property Act and not deferred revenue, making a breakage policy inapplicable. We encourage all relevant parties to complete the necessary steps to fully implement the outstanding recommendations prior to our final follow-up audit.

Implementing recommendations to develop breakage policies for unclaimed funds, and to establish policies, procedures, and documentation for building rentals and security/cleaning deposits, demonstrates management’s commitment to addressing the risks identified in the initial audit.

Further work is essential to fully mitigate risks associated with the untimely approval of outstanding venue deposit reconciliations. Additionally, risks remain regarding incomplete or not retained annual pass memberships, venue and party room rentals, and existing monument permit applications. These areas require further attention from both staff and management.

We performed this audit in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides such a basis.

We extend our appreciation to all leaders and team members of the agencies involved for their cooperation during this process. The enclosed follow-up audit report summarizes the status of the recommendations. Should you have any questions or wish to discuss the report further, please do not hesitate to contact me at 385-468-7200.

Chris Harding, CPA, CFE, CIA
Salt Lake County Auditor