A joint management, operations and maintenance agreement between the two towns for Twin City Power has been in place since 1994. Each town has its own electric system, which is owned and financed by Twin City Power. Operating revenues and expenditures are determined by how much money each town is bringing into the system through its customers, according to a city report.

On Election Day earlier this month, Hildale voters overwhelmingly supported Proposition 6, a ballot measure to allow the city to sell or transfer its stake in the power company and related assets in exchange for relief of $21.3 million in bond debt. The proposition passed with 98.5 percent approval.

The move gets the city out of debt but also leaves it without a power source. Hildale officials plan to lease power from other providers.

East Carbon is next on the list with more than $6,000 of debt per resident, followed by Park City ($5,200), Fairview ($4,800) and Moroni ($4,150).

At the other end of the spectrum are debt-free municipalities Cottonwood Heights, Fruit Heights, Honeyville (Box Elder County) and Marriott-Slaterville (Weber County), and Bluffdale, with a debt of a little more than $1 per resident. Other noteworthy fiscally conservative municipalities include Delta, Farr West, Garland (Box Elder County), Kaysville, Layton, Lewiston (Cache County), Midvale, Naples (Uintah County), Roy, Sunset, Taylorsville, West Haven (Weber County) and West Point — each with $200 or less debt per resident.

Among counties, Grand County has the highest debt per resident at a little more than $900, while Kane, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, Uintah and Wayne counties all boast debt of less than $1 per resident.

Many of Utah's developing communities have high debt-per-capita rates, a function of their need for infrastructure compared with relatively small tax bases.

Payson, American Fork, Eagle Mountain and Lehi are among the highest in municipal debt per person statewide. The Utah County cities have used financing to pay for scales at the landfill, secondary irrigation, a swimming pool and a golf course, among other things.

Credit ratings

Cities need them, too.

A high debt-per-capita rate isn't the whole story behind a city's financial well-being. That rate, calculated in the financial markets, normally includes only the general obligation bond debt. To get a look at a municipality's financial health, you need to look at how much debt the entity has compared to the taxable value of the land in the city, as well as other formulas.

Fortunately, Standard & Poor's and Moody's do this for cities willing to pay $5,000 to $7,000 for a bond rating.