Salt Lake County to Raise $25M for Parks, Trails

DALLAS – Salt Lake County plans a competitive pricing Oct. 30 for about half of the $47 million of general obligation bonds approved by voters last year.

The bonds, which will finance parks and trails in the county, carry triple-A ratings from all three ratings agencies. Zions Bank Public Finance serves as financial advisor on the deal.

With this issue, the county will have about $326 million of outstanding debt, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

“The Aaa rating reflects an enormous tax base that is the economic, political, and cultural center of Utah, healthy socioeconomic measures, including very low unemployment levels, well-managed finances, and a modest debt burden that amortizes rapidly with no exposure to variable-rate debt or derivatives,” noted Moody’s analyst William Oh.

Salt Lake County covers 737 square miles and includes Salt Lake City, which is also rated triple-A by the ratings agencies. 

With more than a million residents, the county serves more than a third of the state's 2.9 million people. The county is also home to the University of Utah and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Prominent employers in the county include American Express, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, Adobe, L-3 Communications, and the mining firm Rio Tinto.

“The high levels of educational attainment and diverse economy allowed the county to recover quickly from the recession and is reflected in the county's low unemployment rate, which was just 4.3% as of July 2013,” Oh wrote in his ratings report.

For fiscal year 2013 the county approved its first tax hike in more than a decade, generating a general fund surplus, according to Fitch Ratings. The county tax rate increases 16% beginning in fiscal 2013 and is expected to raise $31 million annually. The total tax rate, including other overlapping taxing entities, increases by just 3.2%.

In addition to closing the county's structural deficit, proceeds from the tax hike are proposed to be spent on the restoration of employee wage reductions, deferred maintenance, other post-employment benefits pre-funding, and essential requests from the county's various departments, according to Fitch.

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Utah
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