Lehi council voted 4-1 in 2025 to back a Thanksgiving Point science building with city sales tax bonds

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]

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]