WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $60 million of hospital revenue bonds that were issued by Lakeland, Fla., in 2002 for Lakeland Regional Health Systems.
Lakeland disclosed the audit last week in an event notice filed on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA system. The city said it was notified by the IRS about the audit on Jan. 26.
“Lakeland Regional Health Systems’ management is cooperating fully with the audit and does not anticipate any adverse findings as a result of the examination,” the notice said.
The bonds — $51.03 million that were to mature in 2032 and $8.98 million that were to mature in 2027 — were to be used by Lakeland Regional Health Systems to acquire and develop a 35,200-square-foot medical building to primarily provide outpatient radiation therapy and chemotherapy services, as well as an eight-story, 288-bed medical tower and a five-story parking garage, among other things, according to bond documents.
The bonds appear to have been refunded in 2006, the documents indicate.
The underwriters of the 2002 bonds were Salomon Smith Barney, now Citi, and Raymond James & Associates Inc.
Bond counsel was Nabors, Giblin, Nickerson PA in Tampa, Fla. Underwriters’ counsel was Schifino & Fleischer PA, also in Tampa.
