Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Hospital Financing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Taos County holds required public hearing on $20 million hospital bond financing; pricing expected next week
Summary
Taos County commissioners on Feb. 4 held a statutory public hearing on a proposed Taos County Hospital gross receipts tax improvement revenue bond series 2025 that bond counsel said would provide about $20 million for hospital projects.
Taos County commissioners on Feb. 4 held a public hearing required under federal tax rules on a proposed Taos County Hospital gross receipts tax improvement revenue bond, series 2025, a tax-exempt financing that bond counsel said would provide about $20 million to the hospital for improvement projects.
Chris Muirhead, bond counsel, said the purchaser is expected to be the New Mexico Finance Authority and that the authority will price its bonds next week. “Given today’s market, what they anticipate the terms to be… the true interest cost and net interest cost to the county for this is 4.9,” Muirhead said, adding the bond would be structured over a 10-year period. He said projections show roughly $1.2 million annually in gross-receipts-tax revenue above debt service that could be used to redeem the bonds early, which under conservative projections could shorten the 10-year schedule to about six years.
Muirhead emphasized the hearing is a required IRS step for tax-exempt governmental bonds when the beneficiary is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (the hospital). “This is just another opportunity for the public to come and provide any comments they have about the project,” he said; no formal action was required at the meeting.
A commissioner asked when the hospital would receive funds; Muirhead replied that closing is scheduled for Feb. 25 and that funds would be available shortly thereafter. He said final terms will be known after the finance authority’s pricing the following week and that the county would incorporate those terms into closing documents executed by the chair or county manager.
No substantive public comment on the bond was offered during the hearing and the commissioners closed the public hearing after the presentation. Commissioners did not vote on the financing instrument at the meeting; the proceeding recorded was the statutory public hearing required under the Internal Revenue Code section cited by counsel.
Ending: Bond counsel said final pricing could change between the preview and next week’s sale, and the county will return with final sale documents and signatures as required to close and deliver proceeds to the hospital.
