Utah County approves tax‑exempt conduit bonds to finance Intermountain Healthcare projects

The Utah County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved resolutions authorizing the issuance and sale of tax‑exempt conduit bonds that will be used to finance hospital projects for Intermountain Healthcare.

Matt Dugdale, financial advisor to the county, told commissioners that “when the county issues bonds, it does so through the tax exempt bond market,” which allows borrowers to access lower interest rates because investors do not pay taxes on interest earnings. Dugdale said the county would enter into a loan agreement with Intermountain Healthcare that “fully indemnifies the county” for payments, so no county tax dollars would be used to make debt‑service payments.

Randy Larson, bond counsel, said the county’s role is limited to acting as a conduit. “State law would furthermore even disallow any revenues from the county for being used to make debt service payments on these bonds,” he said, adding that his firm had reviewed the documents and recommended approval.

Commissioners noted that the lion’s share of proceeds will support new Primary Children’s facilities in Lehi and Spanish Fork and upgrades at University Hospital. Dugdale also said recent county refunding bonds saved about $9.1 million in present value, illustrating the market benefit of tax‑exempt financing.

After brief discussion and assurances from counsel, a commissioner moved and the board unanimously adopted the posted resolutions related to the issuance and sale of the bonds (voice vote recorded 2‑0). The board also approved two related regular‑agenda resolutions that counsel said were in addition to the resolution adopted after the public hearing.

The bond counsel and Intermountain representatives said they would remain available to answer follow‑up legal and closing‑process questions. The county will proceed with the financing under the adopted documents.