Natrona commissioners press for more information after Summit/Memorial bond briefing

Memorial Hospital of Converse County and Summit Medical Center officials briefed the Natrona County Board of County Commissioners on a proposed industrial development revenue bond that would finance Summit’s purchase of a Natrona County hospital building, and commissioners agreed to delay a decision to collect more information and public feedback.

The presentation to the board explained that the proposed bonds would be issued as industrial development revenue bonds under state law and would be nonrecourse to the county. “Those bonds are issued as no obligation to the issuer, so they are not a county obligation,” said Rick Thompson, bond counsel with the firm of Hathaway and [firm name redacted], explaining state-authorized industrial development revenue bonds and their public-purpose rationale.

The pitch was led by Bob Kaiser, chairman of the board of Memorial Hospital of Converse County and Summit Medical Center, with legal and financial advisors on hand. Alan Matlos of Stifel and Thompson described how the bonds would be structured and marketed. Thompson said the statutes allow counties to issue tax-exempt bonds to promote local economic development and health care services and stressed that bondholders would have recourse only to the project’s pledged revenues, not to county credit.

Why it matters

The proposal seeks county approval to serve as the named issuer for tax-exempt industrial development revenue bonds to finance Summit’s acquisition of a hospital property reportedly valued near $29 million. County commissioners do not take on…