Price City sets $14 million cap on taxable water and sewer bonds to fund Soldier Summit transmission line

Price City Council approved a resolution authorizing a maximum repayable amount of $14,000,000 in taxable water and sewer revenue bonds to fund replacement of a decades-old water transmission line serving the city.

The vote came after a public hearing during the Sept. 24 meeting in which the city’s bond counsel described a state funding package totaling $15,197,000 that combines loan forgiveness and a reduced-rate loan to cover most of the project cost.

Attorney Eric (attorney for Scribe City) told the council the transmission main from Soldier Summit dates to the 1930s and is “coming up on 90” years of service. He said the city has a funding commitment of $15,197,000, of which $4,559,000 is grant or loan forgiveness and the remainder is an expected loan of $10,638,000 that carries a hardship-style 2% rate. Eric said the city’s repayment on that loan would total $14,462,660 over 30 years under the terms discussed.

The funding package reduces the city’s borrowing cost substantially compared with a market-rate bond sale, Eric said, calling the state subsidy “just a smidgen over 50%.” The public hearing covered a maximum bond amount of $14,000,000 to provide a cushion above the anticipated loan amount; the attorney said the larger public-hearing amount is a common lender request.

During public comment, Diana Wood, a resident who said she lives at 748 North 100 East, described recurring basement flooding during heavy rain and questioned whether city work orders and drainage fixes would be scheduled as part of the project. Council and staff responded that staff would follow up after the meeting; Miles (staff member) and Eric answered technical and financing questions during the hearing.

Members of the public also asked where repayment would come from and whether water rates would rise further after recent increases. Council members and staff said the city previously raised water rates in anticipation of a project of this scale and that the rate adjustments enacted in the spring were intended to cover the expected debt service for a $15 million project. Eric and staff said the loan-and-grant mix reduces the city’s borrowing burden and that contingency planning and engineering work were completed to limit the risk of large overruns.

Council member Chrisman moved to authorize the maximum repayable amount and Council member Richardson seconded. The council approved Resolution No. 2025-21 by voice and roll-call vote.

With the resolution passed, staff will move to finalize financing terms and pricing with the mayor and finance director acting as the pricing committee, as described in the approved motion. Additional work — including the transmission main replacement and subsequent treatment-plant work mentioned during the hearing — will proceed under separate procurement and project-management steps.

The council closed the public hearing and completed the bond authorization at the Sept. 24 meeting; staff said they will be available to answer follow-up questions and that further public notices would be provided as financing and construction schedules are finalized.