Lehi council voted 4-1 in 2025 to back a Thanksgiving Point science building with city sales tax bonds
The Nov. 18, 2025 vote authorized sales tax revenue bonds for a nonprofit's building; S&P rated an anticipated $27.42 million issue, and the city issued $27.25 million in December 2025. The lone no vote cited constitutional limits on lending public credit.
Updated, Oct. 16, 2026: what changed ↓
Continuing story: Auditing Lehi
On Nov. 18, 2025, the Lehi City Council voted 4-1 to authorize sales tax revenue bonds to finance a science and technology building on the Thanksgiving Point campus, according to the meeting minutes. [1]
Paige Albrecht, Chris Condie, Paul Hancock and Heather Newall voted yes, and Michelle Stallings voted no. [1]
On Dec. 5, 2025, S&P Global Ratings assigned an AA+ rating to the city's "anticipated $27.420 million series 2025B sales tax revenue bonds." [2]
The city's FY2025 annual financial report later said that in December 2025 the city issued $27,250,000 in sales tax revenue bonds for the Thanksgiving Point Science and Technology Center, at a premium of $3,273,049, payable through 2041 at 5.0% interest. [3]
What the council heard
Thanksgiving Point representatives said an independent study projected about $54 million in benefits directly to Lehi over 20 years, and that the city's credit would save an estimated $6.9 million in present value compared with the nonprofit borrowing on its own, the minutes say. [1]
The minutes list protections including a ground lease and the building as collateral, reserve funds paid by Thanksgiving Point, and a pledge of net revenue from all Thanksgiving Point facilities. [1]
Utah County was "anticipated to cover roughly the first three years of bond payments," according to the minutes. [1]
Stallings was "uneasy pledging Lehi's sales tax revenues for a facility run by a private nonprofit, citing the Utah Constitution's limits on lending public credit," and preferred a conduit bond, the minutes say. [1]
The council amended the motion to tie the pledge to net revenue from all Thanksgiving Point facilities instead of $1.50 per ticket, and to require the new building to be operated like Thanksgiving Point's current facilities. [1]
Context
Before the vote, Lehi had $19.4 million in principal outstanding on its 2018 and 2019 sales tax revenue bonds as of June 30, 2025, and had pledged sales tax to them through 2039. [3]
Updated Oct. 16, 2026: This story now includes the city's report that it issued $27.25 million in sales tax revenue bonds for the project in December 2025, at a $3.27 million premium. The $27.42 million figure was S&P's description of the anticipated issue.
Sources
- Lehi City Council · Nov. 18, 2025 minutes
- S&P Global Ratings · Lehi Series 2025B sales tax revenue bonds rating (Dec. 5, 2025)
- Lehi City · FY2025 annual comprehensive financial report
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.